OPINION: The Hound was gobsmacked to learn that the NZ media's love affair with 'our' Jacinda took another great leap forward - or more correctly backwards - during the recent visit of Australian PM Scott Morrison.

Despite the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, revenue from New Zealand's primary exports in the past season only dropped by 1% and is predicted to quickly pick up and reach a record high of $49.6 billion in the next 12 months.

In a somewhat ironic twist, the global Covid pandemic is helping to drive demand for New Zealand kiwifruit.

Rabobank has joined the group of milk processors and banks forecasting a milk price of $8-plus for the new season.

Revenue from primary exports is predicted to reach a record high of $49.6 billion in the next 12 months - all being equal.

OPINION: Your old mate reckons Fonterra and its dairy farmer shareholders may well be all cock-a-hoop about the prospects of a near $8 payout this year and one north of $8 next year.

Dairy Global dairy spot markets, for the most part, have been stuck in neutral through May.

New Zealand red meat exports remained steady in April with a total of $863 million worth of meat and co-products exported to global markets.

Fonterra's small group of organic farmers are facing a drop in milk price after a record $10.26/kgMS payout last year.

Global food prices rose at their fastest monthly rate in more than a decade in May, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has reported.