Farmers needed serious rain - up to 100mm - but there was none on the horizon and soil moisture levels across Northland were extremely low.

While the eastern region swelters in one of the most rain-deprived Januaries in more than a century, some western areas have been drenched.

Northland farmers are facing drier than normal conditions.

Almost a third of Northland dairy farms are significantly non-compliant when it comes to effluent discharges and the region's top

A fifth of share milkers who responded to a Federated Farmers survey said they were coming under pressure from their bank on their

New Zealand's new Prime Minister is a former farmer and literature student from smalltown Southland who once described himself as "specialising in being boring".

More than a third of Kiwi farmers have been a victim of theft in the last two years, a recent survey has revealed.

Farmers in quake-battered North Canterbury are rallying together, pitching in for supplies, sharing gear, and helping out on damaged properties.

Summer likely to be wetter than average according to long-term Niwa forecast.

The incident in January was investigated, but in September police said no charges would be laid against the officers as there was "insufficient evidence".

The Independent Police Conduct Authority has launched a probe into the police handling of alleged illegal hunting by off-duty officers

Malcolm Bailey and Ian Farrelly to step down from the Fonterra board. First NZ Capital's Scott St John appointed as an independent director.

Salvation Army recommends tightening immigration rules further beyond last week's Government decisions to raise the point system.

It used to be the thing of the old Western movies where the rancher combating rustlers stealing his stock. But similar scenarios are

Police are investigating the discovery of a hidden camera at a Waikato dairy farm.

The business community has mixed reactions towards a greener and more anti-dam stance on the Hawke's Bay Regional Council. Hawke's

The Fed Farmers Rural Security Spokesperson discusses poaching and the devastating effects it has on rural NZ.

Feral sheep are under threat but Wimbledon farmer Brian Hales is showcasing what these exotic breeds have to offer. Made with funding from NZ on Air

Challenges facing the dairy industry are taking their toll on farmers, Federated Farmers West Coast provincial president Peter Langford says.

Farmers' confidence improved a little since January but remains weak, with commodity and farmgate prices the biggest concern,

Farmers Dairy chairman Andrew Hoggard says dairy farmers need to ask themselves what a smart level of debt is given the risk profile for the next decade.

Dry stock farmers' salaries have grown strongly in the past year, according to Federated Farmers and Rabobank's 2015-16 employee remuneration report.

Federated Farmers and Dairy NZ have been holding around the country aimed at helping farmers, particularly sharemilkers, through the downturn.

Dairy farmers are the most optimistic group in New Zealand's agricultural sector for the coming year, according to a Federated Farmers poll.

The Reserve Bank has warned defaults on dairy loans will be likely as cash-flow shortage estimated at $1/kgMS.

Z Energy says committing to using biofuel is one way people can contribute to the global effort to reduce climate change outlined in the Paris Agreement.

A businessman, 60, is alleged to have acted alone in blackmail scare that said infant formula would be poisoned.

An Auckland businessman accused of threatening to contaminate infant formula with the poison 1080 was financially motivated, charge sheets allege.

Police arrest 60-year-old businessman over a threat to contaminate infant formula with the poison 1080.

Federated Farmers said it welcomed the Government's decision to decline the sale of Lochinver Station, near Taupo, to China's Shanghai Pengxin Group.