Fonterra has raised its forecast payout to farmers to $8.65 per kilogram of milk solids as global demand for milk powders remains strong.

Dairy product prices recorded their biggest drop since early November in the latest global auction, with the volume sold falling to an eight-month low.

Fonterra is calling for improved lab-testing, saying the Environmental Science & Research laboratory lacked the capacity to identify an E.coli bacterium in cream.

My heart sank when I heard about Fonterra's idea to reduce the dairy industry's impact on our environment, writes Sue Kedgley.

Ground work preparations are well under way on the new Fonterra headquarters site in the Viaduct Harbour area on the corner of Fanshawe St and Halsey St.

French dairy giant Danone's Nutricia unit recalled just $25.7 million of infant formula when it was caught up in Fonterra's false food alarm last year.

Fonterra has raised 1.25 billion renminbi in its second Chinese currency denominated bond, which it will use to repay debt and expand operations in China.

A waterfront dispute has broken out between two of New Zealand's biggest ports, arguing about who is the best.

Fonterra is buying the naming rights for Shed 10 on Auckland's Queens Wharf - and will use its Anchor brand, the Herald understands.

While the timing of this is far from ideal given last year's events, this voluntary recall came from Fonterra's own testing, writes Willy Leferink.

In the first of a two-part series Gareth Morgan and Geoff Simmons warn of private profit at a public cost. "Our rivers are stuffed, and getting worse."

Damage to reputation will depend on how cream scare is treated in global media in the coming days: analyst.

News that Fonterra has recalled some batches of fresh cream has people worried that illness they have suffered is due to consuming the contaminated product.

Customers are being asked to return nearly 9000 bottles of fresh cream, after three positive tests for E.coli at Fonterra's Takanini plant.

Herald business editor Liam Dann says the new Fonterra recall needs to be kept in perspective - but the world is watching the dairy giant much more closely now.

Fonterra's top executives will have plenty to think about early next year when they devise the co-operative's next three-year business plan.

Federated Farmers says a report on Fonterra's botulism scare has highlighted the need for a stronger food safety regime.

Theo Spierings, the chief executive of Fonterra, said: "The elephant! So you heard about the elephant."

Higher dairy export prices have driven New Zealand's terms of trade to their highest point since 1973, Statistics NZ says.

Fonterra has to lift its game in food safety and quality, and also sustainability, says chief executive Theo Spierings.

The loosening of China's one-child policy is expected to provide a boost for New Zealand infant formula exporters.

New Zealand and Australian employees of infant formula manufacturer Nutricia could be the latest victims of Fonterra's botulism botch-up.