The ANZ Commodity Price Index for July fell 11.2 per cent to the lowest level since October 2009.

Mr Key said Solid Energy had $300 million of outstanding debt and was in a "precarious position".

Cow effluent charges against two Marlborough farmers have been proven.

Fonterra's board will meet on Friday to review the farmgate milk price.

Our fruit trade has become a heavy hitter as an export, helping to at least partly offset weakness in the dairy and forest products sectors.

Should we be dismayed or relieved at the disarray the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations are in? Sorry, but on the information to hand it is impossible to say.

"We haven't seen enough, and this is not something we can sell at home, " said Mike Petersen, New Zealand's special trade envoy for agriculture.

As milk prices fall, farmers keep waiting for the cycle to turn. But what if Fonterra's problems are longer term, asks Jamie Gray.

Westland will decide on its final 2014/15 payout in September.

As Fonterra's NZX-listed units languish near an all-time low, analysts say the market will remain cool on the dairy giant.

Fonterra Co-operative Group has put on hold plans to develop an Equity Partnership Trust that would have given its 10,500 farmer suppliers access to investor capital to help them with the compulsory....

Concentrating on marketing its cuts rather than processing them is paying dividends for a niche meat exporter.

Germany is the largest export market for New Zealand onions, followed by Indonesia and Japan.

Pressure is building on Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings as the dairy industry faces up to a winter of discontent, writes Liam Dann.

Jamie Gray writes: For Fonterra's farmers, investors and employees the severity of the dairy downturn will become clear early next month.

Australia's dry spell and a strengthening El Nino are proving a boon for US hamburger lovers.

Silver Fern Farms, NZ's biggest meat processor says it is considering raising $100m in fresh capital.

France's meat and dairy producers halted traffic and blocked tourist sites in several regions to protest low prices.

Open Country has told its farmers that their forecast payout has been cut back due to slumping world dairy prices.

The controversial $275 million Ruataniwha water storage scheme in Hawkes Bay is a step closer after the High Court said no appeals had been lodged in the consent process.

Editorial: The resource is not being used as it should be, and stricter policing of the current trade will not, in itself, change that markedly.

New Zealand manufacturing activity increased in June, snapping three months of decline, as a weaker dollar supported exporters in the sector.

Chief Theo Spierings admits news unsettling for staff as co-op tries to reduce its payroll bill by up to $60m a year.

Liam Dann says axing 523 jobs may make financial sense to Fonterra's chiefs but the dairy slump is bigger than that.

Fonterra's board will consider its current farm gate milk price forecast for 2015/6 at its next meeting on August 7, a spokesman for the co-operative said.

Dairy prices have plunged in the latest world dairy auction, taking the Kiwi dollar down with it.

Fonterra says it is disappointed about a poor first-half result expected by its Chinese infant formula investment, Beingmate Baby & Child.

A $16.65m programme to develop and commercialise new ways to process food could add $250 million a year to NZ's export earnings within 20 years.

A sharp decline in whole milk powder prices looks likely at the twice-monthly GlobalDairyTrade auction on Thursday, with futures market pricing suggesting a drop of about 8 per cent.