Opposition parties have labelled Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings' $4.18m salary as "absurd".

Attendance at Fieldays at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton, was up by 5.2 per cent compared with last year's weather-affected event.

Farmers have overcome the shell shock of very low milk prices to turn out in force at Fieldays - New Zealand's biggest agricultural event.

Media were told that hundreds of Fonterra jobs were to be axed, hours before staff heard the news.

Bill English says that while the dairy industry was an important one, it was not necessarily as big as many thought.

A national programme to address rural depression will be developed in recognition of challenging times for farmers including volatility in milk prices.

ProTen, an Australian chicken farming business whose shares trade on New Zealand's Unlisted market, raised A$34 million ($36.5 million) to fund growth and repay financing.

The New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays is underway at Mystery Creek Events Center, Hamilton.

Fonterra says it will lay off hundreds of its 1500 head office staff in a major review following the decline in dairy prices.

MPI forecasts revenue from primary industries will drop to $35.2 billion in the year to June.

Volatility on world fertiliser markets and the decline in the New Zealand dollar has brought with it a mixed bag of price changes for farmers.

Two Auckland men met about two years ago and in that short time they have discovered they have the same passion - cleaning up waterways.

A taxpayer grant of $11 million to farm wagyu cattle will benefit an overseas businessman at the centre of the Saudi farm controversy.

The sale of Lochinver station to Chinese interests spearheaded by Shanghai Pengxin reignited concerns about farm sales to foreigners during the election campaign.

Farmers at this week's Fieldays at Mystery Creek will have cost control and innovation on their minds as they try and mitigate the impact of a cashflow crunch caused by sharply lower dairy....

Two successive years of low milk prices will increase pressure on the asset quality of New Zealand banks, says ratings agency Fitch.

International dairy prices continued to fall as the market struggles to recover from a supply/demand imbalance and subdued demand from China.

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.

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

Murray McCully's secret Saudi deal is attracting far too much adverse comment on the international stage to be easily swept under the carpet, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Claims of corruption, bribery and lies are being made about the Government’s unorthodox scheme of flying sheep to Saudi Arabia, writes Bryce Edwards.

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 threat of legal action being used to partly justify nearly $12 million spent on a Saudi businessman's farm was clearly hollow, Labour says.

A controversy over the spending of millions of dollars on a overseas businessman’s farm in Saudi Arabia has boiled over in Parliament with accusations of bribery.

New Zealand spent more than $11.5 million to help establish a demonstration farm in Saudi Arabia - but does not have any contractual rights to access it.