Businesses in rural areas are feeling the effects of a marked slowdown in the agricultural sector, according the latest MYOB Business Monitor.

Canterbury-based independent milk processor Synlait Milk has reported a drop in profit, largely due to decreases in dairy prices.

Dairy farmers are welcoming the latest cut in the official cash rate.

Fonterra is being “commercially rational” by reducing the volumes sold on the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, says Fonterra managing director global ingredients, Kelvin Wickham.

The low payout may starting to affect farm sales in the dairy sector.

Fonterra is being “commercially rational” by reducing the volumes sold on the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, says Fonterra managing director global ingredients, Kelvin Wickham.

A former head of state-owned farmer, Landcorp, says the only way the government can extract more money from the company is to sell some farms.

The lower dollar will put extra money in wool growers’ pockets but volatility in demand from China can be expected, say wool market experts.

Australian supermarkets have been in the gun for years for the way they treat suppliers and farmers. 

If you asked the average Queen Street office worker to describe a high input, high output farm they’d probably describe an operation on the flats whose owners relied on PKE and thought little about the environmental impact of their farm.