New Zealand agri-tech company Tru-Test is bucking the trend of outsourcing manufacturing to China, saying it's good business to keep things close to home.

The risk of the kiwi dollar remaining high is the biggest risk to Government forecasts for growth in the nation's farm, forestry and seafood exports, a new Government report says.

Economists are encouraged by a sharp surge in world dairy prices overnight, but say it is too early to say whether the downward trend in prices has been reversed.

The New Zealand dairy herd has grown by more than 250,000 in less that two years, says new research published today.

Thank goodness for the dairy industry...

Finance Minister Bill English says New Zealand is still "reasonably well placed" compared to many other countries despite today's weak economic growth news.

The economy grew at an unexpectedly slow rate in the last months of 2011, with GDP stats showing growth of 0.3pc - half what most were predicting.

Replay of Fran O'Sullivan's live chat with nzherald.co.nz readers about the Crafar farm sale.

The High Court ruling against the Crafar Farms sale may be just the intervention NZ Inc needs to confont its addiction to foreign debt and asset sales...

The kiwi dollar has risen against the euro to near the highest level since 2002.

The dairy industry has been a star performer for decades, but the time has come for others in the New Zealand family of commodities to share the limelight...

Dairy giant Fonterra has unveiled a pilot scheme to put free milk into Northland primary schools.

New Zealand's terms of trade - the amount of imports that can be funded by a fixed quantity of exports - fell in the third quarter, driven by falling prices for primary sector exports and a strong kiwi dollar.