Dairy farmers were offered a respite from what has so far been a dismal season for prices after the GlobalDairyTrade index gained 3.6 per cent at the first auction for 2015.

The international dairy trade has started 2015 on a positive note at this morning's GlobalDairyTrade auction, up 3.6 per cent on last month's auction.

Canterbury is on the verge of a 20th century-style drought with the southern region the driest it has been in a decade, forcing farmers to sell surplus stock and leading to restrictions on irrigation....

A farmer was forced to get rid of a type of cow that was bred by Hitler's scientists because the ultra-aggressive breed tried to kill staff.

In dramatic terms 2014 ended with several big business and economic stories on cliff- hangers.

Dairy farmers and the Treasury will be looking to 2015 and beyond with some trepidation after a 52 per cent decline in wholemilk powder prices over the past 12 months.

Foreign claims on the economy exceed New Zealand investment abroad by $152 billion.

Dairy prices mostly improved at this morning’s GlobalDairyTrade auction, the GDT price index gaining 2.4 per cent.

The Fonterra Shareholders Council is "broadly supportive" of plans for the co-operative to start sourcing milk from South Island suppliers who are not also shareholders.

The sharp decline in oil and dairy prices could have a huge impact on the domestic economy as the former is our largest import item and the latter our biggest export earner.

A $6 billion drop in dairy farmers' incomes this season is a blow to the wider economy, no question, writes Brian Fallow. But it's not all bad.

The Reserve Bank still sees interest rate increases in our future, but fewer and further away than it thought three months ago.

Authorities in New Zealand have issued a warning about unpasteurised milk after the death of an Australian child.

The medium to long term outlook for NZ dairy farmers remains sound, despite yesterday's payout cut, says rural lender Rabobank.

Fonterra said it had launched a separate milk sourcing subsidiary - mymilk - to grow its market share in the South Island.

Fonterra plans to cut costs and defer some capital expenditure so that an improved dividend can at least partially offset a likely $6b decline in income for the sector.

There is one salient comment in the report by Queens Counsel Miriam Dean into the WPC80 incident that ought to give Fonterra's directors and shareholders cause for concern: "A company that is....

Wholemilk powder prices continued to decline while other products showed signs of improvement at this morning’s GlobalDairyTrade auction.

ANZ's commodity price index fell for the ninth month in a row in November, as milk powder prices hit five-year lows.

Farmers have been increasing their spending on equipment as cash flows were boosted by Fonterra's record payout.

Falling dairy prices have begun to undermine one of the foundations of the economic upswing, rising national income from the most favourable terms of trade.

Tomorrow will see the last GlobalDairyTrade auction before Fonterra releases its revised farmgate milk price forecast for 2014/15.

The drop in dairy prices hasn't caused Finance Minister Bill English to rethink his confidence behind the forecast of the government reaching surplus next year.

Business sentiment is somewhere between healthy and stellar, says ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie.

Fonterra says it had started a consultation process to gauge interest in a proposed equity partnership trust for its farmers.

It's not all about dairy. We saw another poor result from the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, with the headline index down 3.1 per cent and the important whole milk powder price down 5.1 per cent to US$2400 ($3072) a tonne.