It's a marine ecological gem on the doorstep of our biggest city and it's not the Hauraki Gulf.

International dairy prices showed signs of stabilising at this morning’s GlobalDairyTrade auction.

'Horrific" rates of nearly $50k a year on land still being grazed by livestock prompted the $37.9m sale of one of Auckland's largest land lots.

The head of Fonterra says the growing Ebola epidemic could cost the company $150 million.

Landcorp's decision to take full control of New Zealand's largest red meat genetics business is an example of the state-owned enterprise's push to diversify its operations.

A Marlborough farmer wants Fonterra to stop investment spending and cut staff salaries until milk prices improve.

World dairy prices showed signs of levelling off today with the GlobalDairyTrade price index gaining 1.4 per cent at the fortnightly auction.

Tightening conditions on global commodity markets have come as no surprise to small to medium-sized agribusiness enterprises, according to an MYOB survey.

Farmers are preparing for an austere 2014/15 season after a major drop in prices at last night's GlobalDairyTrade auction, says Federated Farmers boss.

Research funding from the dairying and soft drink industries could be declined on ethical grounds under proposals being worked through by the University of Canterbury.

Dairy farmers face a year of serious belt-tightening if Fonterra's latest milkprice forecast of $5.30 per kg of milksolids comes to pass, agricultural commentators said.

Fonterra has just announced a cut to its forecast farmer payout - from $5.30 a kg of milksolids - down from $6.00.

New Zealand rural confidence levels have fallen to a two-year low thanks to plunging dairy prices, according to Rabobank's latest quarterly rural confidence survey.

Scientists in the UK have created an algorithm for herding sheep but Kiwi farmers remain unconvinced by the idea of robot sheepdogs.

Monster fleece shorn from an Australian sheep looks set to claim New Zealand sheep Shrek's decade-old 27kg world record.

About 100 Southland dairy cows have died or been destroyed after contracting lead poisoning from grazing on a gun club property.

While dairy product prices are falling, the same cannot be said for mutton and beef prices.

Federated Farmers is questioning the need for a National Party proposal for a compulsory ban on dairy cattle from all waterways.

Allied Farmers, which is rebuilding from a disastrous takeover of the Hanover and United Finance loan books has returned to profit.

A majority of voters approve of farm sales to foreigners only when it brings a significant advantage over a New Zealand buyer such as jobs, according to the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.

Every year around 30 per cent of crops worldwide are destroyed by pests and diseases, but scientists from three New Zealand universities have teamed up to develop a product that will enable farmers to detect diseases much earlier.

The amount of productive New Zealand land in foreign hands is probably around 10 per cent — and growing.

This year hasn't been kind to the US agricultural sector, just ask John Deere, the world's largest manufacturer of farming machinery.

The field of robotics has well and truly taken off in the past few decades, boosted by increasing innovation and a significant drop in the cost of materials.

We've been the butt of sheep jokes for generations, but New Zealand's flock is in decline.