The next eight months will be lean for dairy farmers but Rabobank NZ chief Ben Russell says he is confident the downturn will be cyclical and one most farmers can cope with.

If NZ taxpayers have provided a businessman with a sheep farm in compensation for his loss, it raises many more questions than Minister Murray McCully has been inclined to answer.

New Zealand's only commercial tea estate has secured a deal to sell its products in upmarket London department store Harrods.

Trust set-up raises issue of whether farmer shareholder and external investor interests in Fonterra are fully aligned.

ANZ breached the Fair Trading Act for misleadingly representing interest rate swaps to some customers.

Fonterra's cut its payout forecast by 10c to $4.40 a kilo of milk solids and says it expects to pay out $5.25 a kilo for next season.

A slump in dairy exports weighed on the trade balance last month.

IrrigationNZ said the $25 million in extra funding for irrigation projects announced in the Budget would help boost development of water storage and infrastructure.

Zespri International, which controls exports of New Zealand kiwifruit, more than doubled annual profit.

Trade Minister Tim Groser said he was not aware his last name had been turned into a verb: "Grossing".

There's been another fall in world dairy prices, with the GDT index down to its lowest level since August 2009.

A tourist industry group wants more thought given to where Budget funding is spent rather than wanting more direct cash.

Export log prices, which fell to a three-year low this month, may start to pick up as demand improves in China.

Farm prices have continued to rise, despite the near halving of milk prices over the past year, according to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand data.

Farmers don't expect special treatment from this year's Budget, but some recognition of the impact that the drought has had on farm finances would be a welcome move.

Farm prices have continued to rise, despite the near halving of milk prices over the last year, according to REINZ.

For people other than residential property investors, Thursday's Budget is expected to be a nickel-and-dime affair, writes Brian Fallow.

Increased dairy farm foreclosures look likely if product prices remain weak, the Reserve Bank says in its latest financial stability report.

The old joke that there's nothing in New Zealand but sheep may have run its course, as stock numbers hit lows not seen since during the Second World War.

The Reserve Bank has singled out the New Zealand dairy sector as an "area of risk" for the financial system.

Fonterra will late this month release its milk price forecast for 2015/16 and indications are that it will be towards the lower end of market expectations.

Saskatchewan, Canada's biggest agricultural province, imposed a temporary ban last month on certain investors acquiring farmland, reports Bloomberg.

Shareholders in Australian dairy co-operative Murray Goulburn (MG) have voted in favour of a Fonterra-style capital structure that will see its units trade on the ASX.

ANZ Bank New Zealand, the country's biggest lender, was the most aggressive in pitching interest rate swaps to farmers, the Commerce Commission says.

For the cruise sector, there are no alternative ports, writes Chris Roberts. Passengers want to come to Auckland and spend their money enjoying the sights and activities of our biggest city.

Whole milk powder prices, which are central to Fonterra's farmgate forecasts, showed signs of levelling off at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, but competition from big suppliers in the United....

Tim Groser's warning that the dairy sector would effectively have to guts it out during a period of low milk payouts was timely.

International dairy prices fell for the fourth time in a row at this morning's GlobalDairyTrade auction.