Think it's all good down on the farm? Think again. Property values are plunging, and the crisis could yet hit the cities too, reports Karyn Scherer.

Janette Walker's farm was soaring in value and the bank was happy to lend - then everything changed.

Last year was a 'bitterly disappointing' year for farmers, with the number of deaths nearly doubling to 17, Federated Farmers says.

The Government has turned down Hong Kong listed Natural Dairy NZ's controversial bid to buy the Crafar dairy farms from receivers in a deal thought to be worth about $200 million.

Rainfall over the past few days has made a Waikato farmer's "wishes come true", but he warns its effect will not be immediate.

Silver Ferns Farms has hit back at complaints that workers at its Te Aroha plant had their pay deducted for observing a two-minute silence to remember the Pike River miners.

Staff at a North Island freezing works had their pay cut for the official two-minute silence to remember the 29 miners killed in the Pike River mine.