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.

When news broke of the 1080 baby formula threats, there was an immediate financial market reaction.

A report into New Zealand's meat industry has come out heavily in favour of a single co-operative business model similar to Fonterra's to deal with decades-old issues of overcapacity and too much....

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.

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....

Local apple production looks set to drop by 6 per cent this year because of a cool start to spring, but a warm summer has improved the crop's quality, says Pipfruit New Zealand.

New Zealand's agritechnology exports, worth $1.2 billion annually, look to be on a roll despite historically underperforming compared with key competitors.

Canterbury is on the verge of a 20th century-style drought with the southern region the driest it has been in a decade, forcing farmers to sell surplus stock and leading to restrictions on irrigation....

Foreign claims on the economy exceed New Zealand investment abroad by $152 billion.

It's the statistic that Kiwis love to hate - how many sheep there are in NZ. Once a record 70.3m, you might be surprised how low it is now.

Rock star to rock bottom? That's not where the New Zealand economy is heading, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

In the second of the Sea Change series science reporter Jamie Morton looks at the health of the gulf’s fish populations.

Could teamwork deliver a plan to save the Hauraki Gulf for future generations? Science reporter Jamie Morton considers the issue.

There is one salient comment in the report by Queens Counsel Miriam Dean into the WPC80 incident that ought to give Fonterra's directors and shareholders cause for concern: "A company that is....

The rest of the world has woken up to the growth in demand for food, particularly for proteins, that will occur over the next 30 years.

It's not all about dairy. We saw another poor result from the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, with the headline index down 3.1 per cent and the important whole milk powder price down 5.1 per cent to US$2400 ($3072) a tonne.

Sanford, New Zealand's largest listed fishing group, lifted annual profit 10 per cent as gains in its deepwater fishing and aquaculture operations offset falling skipjack tuna prices.

The a2 Milk Company says it is planning to list in Australia, where most of its earnings come from, in the first quarter of 2015, while maintaining its listing on the NZX.