The Fonterra Shareholders' Fund should be able to raise its 2015 dividend forecast given it expects to pay farmers less for their milk.

Private dairy ingredient manufacturer Open Country Dairy has told its suppliers to expect a reduced payout in a range of $4.70 to $4.90 per kg of milksolids for 2014/5.

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.

Farmers from southern provinces are moving to Northland to take advantage of the comparatively cheap dairy farms on offer there, according to real estate agency Bayleys.

New Zealand's "rock star" economic growth of the past couple of years has been attributed to two things: high dairy prices and the Christchurch rebuild.

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.

New Zealanders are evenly divided about whether farmers are moving quickly enough to reduce their impact on the environment, a Herald DigiPoll survey shows.

It’s our number one export and the backbone of our economy. But has the dramatic growth of the dairy industry come at too high a cost for our streams and rivers?

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.