An Opotiki dairy farm and its director have been fined $37,000 for discharging effluent from a pond and ordered to complete a dairy farm effluent management course.

Farmer David Hunt has spoken out about his battle with mental illness in a bid to raise awareness of the warning signs for depression in rural communities.

Emily Mott woke up feeling dizzy days after falling off a quad bike and hitting her head on a rock while working on a dairy farm near Dannevirke.

Today, more than 70 billion animals are raised and killed for food worldwide annually, the majority in factory farms.

Chinese billionaire Jiang Zhaobai, who now owns the Crafar dairy farming empire, is back in New Zealand forging a relationship with Maori.

Primary industries generate over 70 per cent of New Zealand's merchandise exports.

Maori-controlled, with a Vietnamese connection, one of the country's newest dairy companies does things a little bit differently from the big boys, discovers Jamie Gray.

Join us at noon today for a live chat with Federated Farmers president Bruce Wills. You can send in your questions now.

Rural communities are yet to see most of the benefits from a $500 million scheme to boost internet coverage and speeds.

A New Zealand-developed process for dying wool hailed as a world first in the textile industry has been snapped up by a US active wear manufacturer.

New data out shortly could show if the severe drought is having an effect on farm sales but one expert believes farmers' general spending will be hit harder than volumes or prices of property deals.

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 latest attempt at giving farmers a presence in Parliament and a potential rival to Act on the political right is getting close to attracting enough members to register for next year's election.

One of central Auckland's green spaces has been secured after a new lease agreement which will enable an 81-year-old teaching farm to carry on.

As drought grips the country, the Government is promoting giant dams to irrigate dry farmland. Geoff Cumming investigates whether the biggest of these plans will work for farmers, investors and environmentalists

Two professional weather forecasters got close to predicting the record hot, dry summer, but a "motivational astrologer" was adrift.

That wonderful quote in our English history should be changed in New Zealand to: 'Water, water everywhere and not a drop is saved!'

Farmers need to adapt for a drier future as events like the 'once-in-a-lifetime' drought become closer to the norm.

Slaughterman Kent Sambells' workload was "hectic" last week as Waikato farmers called him in to destroy ailing cattle and take them away for processing into pet food.

Long-awaited rain is forecast for the drought-hit Northland region, with showers expected in some areas over the weekend.