AN AUCKLAND-BASED drystock farmer has been convicted and fined $45,000 for unlawfully taking water from a stream on his Waikato property over a three year period, including during last year's drought.

THE 33 FINALISTS in the 2014 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards showcase the talent the dairy industry is attracting.

ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION company CRV Ambreed will donate semen products worth $27,750 to the West Coast Focus Farm Trust every year for the next three years.

ALLIANCE GROUP has appointed experienced executive and director, Vanessa Stoddart, to its board.

FONTERRA'S FENCEPOST smartphone app is being rolled out to farmer-approved farm consultants and on-farm staff.

HOW TO AVOID effluent ponds leaking or even collapsing is the topic of an education day being run by Waikato Regional Council on April 30, with Debbie Care of AgVice.

NEW ZEALAND risks missing 'a golden opportunity' to grow its agricultural sector, and addressing this will require a coordinated, joint approach from across the sector, Rabobank warns.

SOME 70 FIELD workers are out in Whangarei setting additional traps to lure any Queensland fruit flies that may be in the area.

A TIKORANGI dairy farming operation is the inaugural winner of the 2014 Taranaki Ballance Farm Environment Awards.

ANOTHER Queesnland fruit fly has been found in Whangarei, near where a single fly was found in January.