Big dry forces stock selloffs, but Aucklanders can still water gardens, wash cars thanks to Waikato River supplies

World dairy prices have surged to the highest since June 2011 with the prospect of New Zealand production curtailed by drought.

The mystery of how 165kg of cocaine was slipped into a New Zealand shipping container of milk powder remains unsolved, according to an official report.

Testing for a toxic agricultural substance in New Zealand dairy products has found no traces of it after mid-November last year.

The hot dry summer in the North Island is helping to push world dairy prices up - but the high kiwi dollar is taking the cream off the top.

In the fifth straight gain, prices in the latest world dairy auction rose 3.1 per cent overnight, takings prices to their highest level in five months.

Fonterra Cooperative Group, the world's biggest dairy exporter, is playing down reports that China's quarantine administration destroyed three different New Zealand brands of milk powder as being nothing out of the ordinary and part of a regular review.

It's always interesting to see how corporations and governments respond to a food safety crisis, writes Sue Kedgley.

Hot, dry weather has many Bay of Plenty dairy farmers struggling to make ends meet as Tauranga stares down the barrel of the third driest month in living memory.

A New Zealand exporter selling infant formula in China says the latest agricultural chemical issue is a public relations disaster and sales have fallen "to zero".

Traces of a toxic agricultural substance detected in some Fonterra milk powders has international dairy customers asking for answers.

Demand for New Zealand dairy livestock in China appears to be booming, with more than 38,000 live animals leaving our shores for Chinese pastures last year.

A trial involving five parties linked to the running of Crafar Farms who face hundreds of charges between them of animal abuse has been postponed.

Natasha King has already written her own obituary. Although it was only part of a management course run by her employer, Meridian Energy.

The price of dairy products rose 2 per cent in the first GlobalDairyTrade auction of the year, recovering losses through the tail-end of last year.

The number of sharemarket trades hit a record high in December capping off the best year for the New Zealand stock market since 2004.

World dairy prices have risen in the last online auction of the year.