With the rapid adoption of modern farming technologies, agriculture is an increasingly important part of the economy, writes John Wilson.

Dairy giant to pick up the premium it has so far left on the table, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Prices of dairy products have surged to a record in Fonterra's latest global online auction as traders competed for a shrinking volume of drought-affected milk powder.

Led by dairy products, prices for export commodities surged last month - and this time the rise in world prices was not eaten up by a higher exchange rate.

The onset of drought conditions in the North Island has seen economic confidence plummet in many regions, according to a Westpac McDermott Miller survey.

A West Coast farming expert says he is seeing first-hand the pressures being put on farmers battling to combat the effects of the big dry.

Prices of dairy products surged to the highest in two years in Fonterra's latest Global Dairy Trade auction as drought curtails production in the North Island.

A climate expert believes summers like this one will become the new norm for New Zealand. Droughts have already been declared across much of the North Island.

The drought is working its way down the country, and with with no change predicted until at least mid-March, farmers from Northland to Southland are suffering.

Big dry forces stock selloffs, but Aucklanders can still water gardens, wash cars thanks to Waikato River supplies

World dairy prices have surged to the highest since June 2011 with the prospect of New Zealand production curtailed by drought.

In the fifth straight gain, prices in the latest world dairy auction rose 3.1 per cent overnight, takings prices to their highest level in five months.

A secret Auckland Council agenda item has revealed the Wynyard Quarter as a possible site for Fonterra's planned new $100 million campus-style world HQ.

When the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund made its debut on the NZX last December, the co-operative was finally able to put its capital structure on a firm footing.

It's always interesting to see how corporations and governments respond to a food safety crisis, writes Sue Kedgley.

Hot, dry weather has many Bay of Plenty dairy farmers struggling to make ends meet as Tauranga stares down the barrel of the third driest month in living memory.

A New Zealand exporter selling infant formula in China says the latest agricultural chemical issue is a public relations disaster and sales have fallen "to zero".

An important fertiliser aid has been culled from farmers' chemical shopping lists after it turned up in milk products destined for human consumption.