Improved demand from China has helped push the forecast farmgate milk for the season by 25c.

Rural retailer and supplier Farmlands is being accused of going off the rails and shareholders are being urged to take back control of the co-operative.

"I'm more positive now than I was two or three months ago." That's the view of Richard Wyeth, chief executive of Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products (WMP).

A full rebalance of China’s dairy market is not expected in the near future, so dairy farmers in New Zealand and around the world will need to manage through more financial pain in the months ahead.

Recent data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows a 22.5% drop in the amount of farm sales for the three months ended July 2023 than for the same period in 2022.

Following a couple of bumper sales years when the rolling year-to-date figure for 2022 hit about 16,250 tractors, it looks like things are changing in the Australian farm machinery landscape.

Rural services trader PGG Wrightson is bracing for a challenging year ahead as commodity prices continue to slide.

"Absolutely breathtaking" is how well known economist Cameron Bagrie describes the current rural inflation rate of around 15%.

Fertiliser co-operative Ballance Agri-Nutrients has wiped $51 million in value from its inventory, to move closer to global market prices ahead of spring.

Cash-strapped farmers are getting relief through a major drop in the price of key farm input - fertiliser.