OPINION: The Government's so-called changes to the proposed emissions pricing system, announced four days before Christmas, are farcical.

Irish farmers are facing some hard times this season.

Not known for its dairy herds, Southern Arizona typically resembles a lunar landscape with a few unhealthy patches of scrub scattered through the area. However, about 90 minutes southwest of Phoenix at Gila Bend, Sunset Farms and its Paloma Dairy operation displays a verdant green interruption and a scale that overshadows even the largest operations in New Zealand.

Waikato dairy farmer Jimmy Cleaver is a 23-year-old farm manager who is passionate about his work in the dairy sector and looking after his team.

'Defining the role of the agricultural consultant for the next generation' is the topic that AgFirst chief executive and dairy consultant James Allen is about to pursue.

Farming, horticulture, and forestry company Craigmore Sustainables has announced two key appointments in its senior leadership line-up.

China's economy could determine how milk prices trend this year, says NZX dairy insights manager Stuart Davison.

The year is 2010 and Loshni Manikam – co-owner of a Southland farm, wife and mother – tells her husband for the second time that she is unhappy with her life.

The Mycoplasma bovis Programme seems to be making good progress towards the eradication of the disease from New Zealand.

The availability of quality labour remains the number one issue for many dairy farmers.