Neal Wallace

A typical southern dairy farm, with 500 cows, has had its potential income this season slashed by $300,000.

Nearly 40% of wool on offer at last week's combined North and South Island sale - the largest of the season - failed to sell in what proved to be a bloodbath for vendors.

It is vital that dairy farm budgets for next season break even financially.

Fertiliser manufacturer Ravensdown has scaled back plans to mine the country's only onshore phosphate deposit, located at Clarendon, north of Milton.

Ashburtan farmers dominated this year's Canterbury-North Otago Sharemilker of Year competition announced in Christchurch on Wednesday night.

Growing debt and lower revenue reported by the country's largest exporter yesterday, provides an insight into just how difficult trading conditions are.

The South Island's second-largest stock and station agency has been formed with the merger of Rural Livestock Otago and Rural Livestock Ltd.

Analysts say it is the "nature of the beast" that shareholders in biotechnology companies have to once again provide more capital.

Demand for lamb in the United Kingdom after Easter looms as an important measure of prices for the rest of the season.

The annual calf-selling season began on an optimistic note at Owaka last Thursday with plenty of buyer interest and a line of 12 Charolais-cross steers enlivening the sale by selling for $930.

On a purely economic basis, electronic identification tags in sheep and cattle can cost more than they return, research has shown.

The Government is promising to heal what it sees as a dysfunctional relationship with high country pastoral lessees.

Silver Fern Farms chief executive Keith Cooper has been appointed to the boards of Meat and Wool New Zealand and the New Zealand Meat Board.

Continued weak international dairy prices are expected to limit the ability of our biggest export earner to drag the economy out of recession for at least another year.

The securing of $42.5 million in funding by Dunedin investment company Rural Portfolio Investments was being viewed positively by analysts.

Federated Farmers may be leading the opposition to the National Animal Identification and Traceability (NAIT) system, but opinion among farmers themselves appears to be far from unanimous.

Shareholders in Blis Technologies will meet this month to consider the raising of $3 million through the issue of preference shares.