The benchmark gauge for world food prices went up in February, reaching an all-time high, says the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Just around half way through his three year tenure as New Zealand National Fieldays Society president, James Allen is picking that the next three to five years for NZ agriculture will be a time of opportunity.

OPINION: As the round of He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) farmer 'consultation' meetings continue around the country, cracks seem to be appearing in the voices tasked with promoting its options of tackling farm emissions.

Urgent changes are needed around carbon farming rules to save the country's rural communities.

Rabobank and the ANZ Bank agree that the outlook for dairy and meat for the coming year is positive, but both also have some words of warning.

Farmers are reluctantly facing up to a levy being imposed on them for agriculture greenhouse gas emissions.

OPINION: Price penalties won't drive down livestock emissions without affordable and practical new technologies being available to farmers - unless the aim is to kill off the sector.

OPINION: Feedback is being sought from farmers, growers and others in the primary sector on options to price agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

The profitable run for most NZ agri sectors looks likely to extend into 2022.

New Zealand's red meat sector export hit $10 billion in 2021 - despite the disruption caused by Covid-19.