Fonterra has just announced a cut to its forecast farmer payout - from $5.30 a kg of milksolids - down from $6.00.

Shares in Chinese baby-milk maker Beingmate Baby & Child have rallied sharply since Fonterra entered an alliance with the firm, which includes the Kiwi dairy giant buying a 20 per cent stake in its new partner.

New Zealand rural confidence levels have fallen to a two-year low thanks to plunging dairy prices, according to Rabobank's latest quarterly rural confidence survey.

Fonterra is expected to reveal operating earnings at the lower end of an already published forecast range for the year to July 31 when it reports its result tomorrow.

Danone Nutricia, one of the infant formula companies caught in the Fonterra whey protein contamination scare, says it is still feeling the effects of the incident one year on.

Dairy farmers in this country can expect to come under financial pressure if milk powder prices remain low and tensions in Europe continue to mount, say economists.

Fonterra is pinning its hopes on a tie-up with Chinese infant formula giant Beingmate as it pushes into China's lucrative baby milk market.

Westland Milk Products, the Hokitika-based dairy cooperative, has overtaken rival Fonterra in cutting its forecast payout to farmers.

Fonterra says it plans to spend about $1.17 bon taking a 20 per cent stake in China's Beingmate Baby & Child to boost its baby formula aspirations there.

Dairy prices showed signs of stabilising overnight, with the GlobalDairyTrade main price index slipping by just 0.6 per cent.

Danone is fighting to keep its New Zealand lawsuit against Fonterra live and is appealing the High Court putting the case on hold.

Dairy product prices slumped to the lowest level since October 2012 in the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, paced by whole milk powder and cheddar.

Commodity prices fell for a fifth straight month, led by whole milk powder, reflecting a build-up of inventory in China and strong local milk production.

Fonterra says it's 'realigning' its packing operations at its Canpac plant in the Waikato - and 110 jobs may be lost as a result.

French food giant Danone says a High Court judge's decision halting its legal action against Fonterra will create undue delay.

Fonterra has successfully put Danone’s legal action against it in New Zealand courts on hold.

Big changes lie ahead for the international dairy trade when the European Union (EU) dismantles its 30-year-old quota system next year.

Agriculture reporter Jamie Gray looks at reasons why it’s not yet doom and gloom for the dairy sector following this morning's drop in global dairy prices.

The pressure is on Fonterra’s $7.00 a kg farmgate milk price forecast for this year after another sharp fall in international dairy prices overnight.

Fonterra-owned GlobalDairyTrade (GDT) has added another product line and a new participant to its online trading platform.

Fonterra and other big players on the international dairy market will need to buy or tie up with more companies to maintain the kind of growth they have enjoyed over the last few years.

Fonterra said milk collection across New Zealand for the month of June reached 9 million kg of milksolids, 10.1 per cent higher than the same month last year.

Fonterra's $7 per kg farmgate milk price forecast for 2014/15 is once again under significant downward pressure because of ongoing falls in international dairy prices.

June provided further evidence that the terms of trade is headed south, albeit from the most favourable levels in 40 years.