OPINION: Your old mate reckons a wake-up call is overdue for the platoons of non-productive (and now unemployed) bureaucrats, researchers and various other bludgers whingeing about the current government putting out the bonfire of taxpayer money that burned so brightly in recent years.

OPINION: President Donald Trump's bizarre hard line approach to the world of what was once 'rules-based trade' has got New Zealand government officials, politicians and exporters on tenterhooks.

Wools of New Zealand will soon launch the international version of an online global wool marketplace designed to bring farmers and manufacturers closer together.

New Zealand is so far escaping the unpredictable vagaries of President Donald Trump's trade policies by the skin of its teeth.

The red meat sector is watching anxiously as the US embarks on a tariff war with its key trading partners.

The red meat sector is poised for a strong rebound this season, with export receipts forecast to top $10 billion and farm profitability to almost double.

OPINION: Nearly four years after buying a 75% stake in Southland processor Mataura Valley Milk (MVM), A2 Milk is still struggling to take the plant to profitability.

The cost of producing milk in New Zealand continues to compare favourably with other exporting regions despite a lift in production costs over the past five years.

The recent squabble between the Cook Islands and NZ over their deal with China has added a new element of tension in the relationship between China and NZ.

The world is now amid potentially one of the most disruptive periods in world trade for a very long time.