Latest FromFarming
![Watchdog signals action against banks over rural swap contracts](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Watchdog signals action against banks over rural swap contracts
Three banks facing potential legal action from the competition watchdog over their sale of interest rate swap contracts to farmers say they will continue to co-operate with the commission.
![Officials reject landfarming claims](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Officials reject landfarming claims
Officials in New Zealand's leading oil and gas region are rejecting claims that cows are being allowed to graze on land polluted by waste from mining and fracking operations.
![Farm-buyers face new rules](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Farm-buyers face new rules
A private member's bill put forward by Labour MP Phil Goff would require foreign buyers of farmland to demonstrate their investment would benefit the economy more than a NZ buyer.
!['Her indoors' moves outdoors on the farm](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
'Her indoors' moves outdoors on the farm
Many city-dwellers may still peg rural women as domestic types, but modern farming women are on the land or in the office, running big businesses and driving the exports that are the backbone of NZ's economy.
![Pasta kings buy farm for $25m](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Pasta kings buy farm for $25m
Italy's Barilla family, founders of the world's largest pasta company, have paid $25m to buy a South Island dairy farm from Federated Farmers chairman Willy Leferink and his wife.
![Aussies to follow Fonterra model](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Aussies to follow Fonterra model
Australia's largest dairy cooperative Murray Goulburn (MG) looks set to follow Fonterra in adopting a specialised financial instrument to expand its capital base while retaining exclusive farmer ownership and control.
![Farmer shaken after 'spotlight' scare](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Farmer shaken after 'spotlight' scare
For a split second, Catlins farmer Brian Lemm felt his life hanging in the balance. Standing in the middle of a paddock, he froze as a spotlight stopped on him.
![Spierings admits sustainability failings](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Spierings admits sustainability failings
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says the company is "eight to 10 years" behind other dairy players overseas when it comes to sustainability.
![Home on the range](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Home on the range
People who farm unusual breeds tell Dionne Christian why they find it so appealing.
![Sam Judd: Wasted on water](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Sam Judd: Wasted on water
Every day, millions of tons of inadequately treated sewage, industrial and agricultural waste enters the world's waterways, writes Sam Judd.
![Man admits breaking tails of over 150 cows](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Man admits breaking tails of over 150 cows
A Mid Canterbury herd manager who admitted breaking the tails of at least 154 cows has been sentenced to eight months' home detention and will have to apply to own animals in the future.
![Sam Judd: Our nutrient world](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Sam Judd: Our nutrient world
Sam Judd writes that perhaps the biggest environmental problem we currently face is the contamination of our waterways by nutrients.
![Weather a boost for beef farmers](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Weather a boost for beef farmers
A mild winter and a favourable spring have boosted confidence in the New Zealand beef industry after last summer's challenging drought, says Rabobank.
![Farm value, share surge drives Ngai Tahu profit jump](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Farm value, share surge drives Ngai Tahu profit jump
South Island iwi Ngai Tahu almost doubled bottom-line profit from $68.9 million to $121.7 million after a sharemarket surge and farm revaluations.
![MPI approves incursion programme after spillage](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
MPI approves incursion programme after spillage
Ministry for Primary Industries officials have approved an incursion programme in mid-Canterbury following a spillage of one of Europe's most invasive arable weeds - black grass - found in a consignment of imported fescue seed.
![Big NZ farm sold to US investors](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Big NZ farm sold to US investors
North American investors are understood to have paid around $30 million for one of New Zealand's biggest farms.
![Exclusive: Time to slow down, Speed](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Exclusive: Time to slow down, Speed
'I've got bruises like tyre marks up my leg," says Guy Speedy, vibrant and laughing just two days after being run over by his own tractor.
![Allied Farmers posts smaller loss](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Allied Farmers posts smaller loss
Allied Farmers, in talks with the Inland Revenue Department to settle a $4.2 million tax bill and avoid liquidation, posted a narrower annual loss.
![Winston Aldworth: How is botulism tourism's problem?](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Winston Aldworth: How is botulism tourism's problem?
We're a funny old country. When the dairy farming industry damn near ruins the nation's international image and our ability to sell anything overseas, who do we punish? The tourism sector, of course!
![UK paper rubbishes '100% Pure' claim](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
UK paper rubbishes '100% Pure' claim
British news website Daily Mail Online says New Zealand's claims to be clean and green are "pure manure".
![Fonterra chief apologises](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=793)
Fonterra chief apologises
Fonterra's chief apologised to consumers and the New Zealand public at a press conference today, saying all contaminated stock had been contained.