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.

The driver of a Fonterra milk tanker was killed yesterday when his truck crashed into a drain near Dargaville. The man died at the scene, said Northland fire service spokesperson Tania Matthews.

Prices of dairy products fell in Fonterra's latest GlobalDairyTrade auction - the first decline in four sales.

Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings says it will take a couple of weeks for the price of units in the co-operative to settle after their explosive start on the NZX yesterday.

Units in the new Fonterra Shareholders Fund have debuted at $6.66 per unit - a $1.16 premium to their $5.50 issue price.

Fonterra said it had set its final price for units in the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund at $5.50 per unit - the top end of an indicative $4.60 to $5.50 range.

Fonterra will put in the bulk of shares required for the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund following a muted response from its farmer members.

Prices of dairy products rose in the latest online dairy auction, the third straight gain.

Chinese interest in investing in Fonterra's Cooperative Group's shareholder fund was predictable, says the main farm lobby group.

Local scientists have devised an inventive way of identifying fake milk powder being sold on the international market as a New Zealand product.

"Substandard" NZ-made baby formula and milk powder is being rejected at China's border, raising concerns that media coverage could damage our reputation.

See a replay of our live chat with ANZ rural economist Con Williams on Fonterra's TAF scheme and the dairy industry.