ANZ Bank New Zealand, the country's biggest lender, was the most aggressive in pitching interest rate swaps to farmers, the Commerce Commission says.

Whole milk powder prices, which are central to Fonterra's farmgate forecasts, showed signs of levelling off at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, but competition from big suppliers in the United....

Tim Groser's warning that the dairy sector would effectively have to guts it out during a period of low milk payouts was timely.

ANZ New Zealand boss David Hisco says the country's biggest bank is working closely with rural customers as falling dairy prices begin to bite, but farmers are better placed to deal with the....

Sheep meat prices have fallen by about 10 per cent over the past two months, driven by a drop in demand in China and difficult conditions in another important export market - Britain.

New Zealand dairy farmers are looking down the barrel of a low payout this season, and possibly next season, but Trade Minister Tim Groser says the sector can tough it out.

The Government says sharks should benefit from a proposed ban on wire traces and shark lines in two commercial fisheries.

Supplier-shareholders in Australia's biggest dairy co-operative, Murray Goulburn, will decide next month whether to adopt a Fonterra-style capital structure that would involve raising about A$500....

International dairy prices look likely to head lower at this week's GlobalDairyTrade auction, according to futures market pricing.

The rural property market has remained remarkably resilient in the face of lower farm-gate prices and dry summer conditions, with prices - by some measures - returning to pre-global financial crisis....

Fonterra says its milk collection in New Zealand for the 10 months to March 31 reached 1431 million kg of milk solids - 1 per cent higher than for the same period last season.

The end of the European Union's quota system poses a challenge to New Zealand's dominance of global dairy trade and is likely to put an end to the sharp upward spikes in prices seen in the past, says....

Dry weather and weak dairy prices underpinned higher beef slaughter rates in the first quarter, driving prices lower, but they remain strong by historical standards, Rabobank said in its quarterly....

In the lobby of Ireland's Agriculture Department in Dublin, a flat-screen TV displays a digital clock counting down the seconds until April 1.

The first shipment of New Zealand kiwifruit set off from the Port of Tauranga yesterday, marking the start of a season that looks set to see volumes bounce back to pre-Psa levels, says Zespri chief....

Consumer-driven food trends are nothing new. "Organics", gluten-free and others have all captured consumers, encouraging supermarkets around the globe to respond.

Market sentiment at tomorrow's GlobalDairyTrade auction will be tested following the revelations last week of a threat to the food safety of New Zealand infant formula, says ANZ.

Fallout from this week's baby formula contamination threat weighed heavily on the New Zealand dollar yesterday, with news of curtailed orders from China driving the currency lower still.

The Government was right to say nothing until discreet inquiries had failed and there is a chance a public appeal might help police catch him. The interval appears to have permitted the industry to be well prepared.

Allowing drones to operate beyond the operator's line of sight could provide economic gains of up to $190m a year to New Zealand's farming, forestry and energy sectors.

Dairy prices firmed at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, backing expectations that Fonterra will meet its $4.70 a kg farmgate milk price this season, but concerns remain about muted demand from....

Growing global market opportunities and the need to strengthen supply chains are creating a thirst for capital among agricultural co-operatives around the world, rural lending specialist Rabobank said.

New Zealand farm investment company MyFarm, which up until now has specialised in the pastoral sector, has weighed into kiwifruit with the launch of a $5 million orchard syndicate.

A probe into how three banks marketed interest rate swaps to farmers will see up to $24.2 million go back to rural customers and their communities, with Westpac following ANZ and ASB and settling with the Commerce Commission.

A foreign official at an international conference sparked a police callout to an Auckland Hotel, but no details are being made public.

Lindsay Carruthers doesn't use a rain gauge when it comes to measuring rainfall on his Middlemarch farm.

Economic reform in China, one of New Zealand's largest trading partners accounting for 22 per cent of exports, is a lower priority than trying to save the Communist Party, according to Wall Street....