China is a market where infant formula is a huge reputational barometer; parents will make sacrifices to ensure their children receive quality nutrition, writes Willy Leferink.

China's Bright Dairy will retain four seats on the eight-member Synlait Milk board, despite the likelihood it will lose its majority ownership status.

Global food giant Heinz has revealed plans to scale down production at an infant formula plant it operates in Britain and shift the work to New Zealand.

New Zealand's dairy sector debt nearly tripled over the past decade to $30.5 billion last year and some farmers will have difficulty servicing their loans in the year ahead.

Fonterra remains confident about its push into China's branded infant formula market, despite controversy in the Chinese media this year over New Zealand-made baby milk.

Widespread fears of a flood of Asian investment and a Chinese farm-buying spree are misplaced - Australia is the largest overseas investor in New Zealand.

The Ministry for Primary Industries says it's working on a number of initiatives aimed at addressing concerns in China about the rapid rise in the number of New Zealand infant formula brands available to Chinese consumers.

NZ's reputation for high quality infant formula is being risked by inexperienced companies looking to cash in on Chinese demand, says a high-powered industry group.

Economists still expect a "bumper" season for New Zealand dairy , despite the first online auction for 2013/14 starting on a soft note.

It remains an area crying out for regulatory oversight in case missteps by smaller players screw the market for our champions, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

The allure of a high share price is proving too much for a growing number of Fonterra's farmers, with more choosing to sell up and move to competing cooperatives and dairy companies, says Fonterra's director of milk supply, Steve Murphy.

Fonterra's Chilean subsidiary is an example of what the co-operative would like to achieve in the rest of the world, says former general manager Jose Miguel Porraz.

The pair behind the failed Crafar Farms bid could lose millions of dollars worth of real estate in Auckland and rural Manawatu.

Fonterra says its opening forecast farmgate milk price had been set at $7.00 per kg of milk solids for the 2013/14 season - up $1.20.

Fonterra would have been startled to wake up yesterday to the Herald's front-page photo of Sir Henry van der Heyden emblazoned with "Don't ever trust them", writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Former Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden has apologised to China, its people and Government for telling an audience never to trust the Chinese.

The only way to protect milk from light damage is to block out all light. The trade off, however, is the inability to see how much is left, writes Peter McClure.

Fonterra's Malaysian operation has doubled its revenue in local currency terms over the past five years.