The latest Chinese bid for the Crafar dairy farms is a key test for new rules on foreign ownership, reports Karyn Scherer

Labour is continuing to insist that putting agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme in 2013 won't raise the price of dairy products, and says Prime Minister John Key is being misleading by saying it will.

Let me introduce you to a country you may never have realised you know

Think it's all good down on the farm? Think again. Property values are plunging, and the crisis could yet hit the cities too, reports Karyn Scherer.

Last year was a 'bitterly disappointing' year for farmers, with the number of deaths nearly doubling to 17, Federated Farmers says.

Rainfall over the past few days has made a Waikato farmer's "wishes come true", but he warns its effect will not be immediate.

David Carter has declared a drought in the Waikato and Ruapehu District, saying recent rainfalls appear to have had little effect on dry pastures.

An official drought already declared for Northland could spread to much of the upper North Island.