THE DEMAND FOR dairy products in China is unprecedented and Australian milk producers have been told they should grab the opportunity with both hands.

THE HOUND suggests the price of the following fancy burger would have struggling red meat producers and the MIE boys drooling with envy all around NZ.

A WELL-RESPECTED Tararua sheep and beef unit sold in late December for $6.75 million, setting a new benchmark for farms of similar scale and quality, says the property's selling agent.

THE RABOBANK GLOBAL cattle price index has risen by 6% since June, driven by lower-than-expected beef supply in the main exporting countries and strong Asian demand.

FARM SALES WERE up 47.3% (133 farms) for the three months ending November 2013, compared to the same period in the previous year, says the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

NEW ZEALAND FARMER confidence has continued to edge higher, with the latest quarterly Rabobank survey showing more than half of the country's farmers are looking forward to a 'happy new year' in 2014.

FARM SALES WERE up 47.3% (133 farms) for the three months ending November 2013, compared to the same period in the previous year, says the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

PRICES RECEIVED BY New Zealand producers, as measured by the output producers price index (PPI), rose 2.4% in the September 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand says.

MEAT INDUSTRY Excellence (MIE) chairman John McCarthy says his group wants sheep and beef farmers to return to supplying their meat to the co-operatives 

PLANNING AND flexibility are the key to succeeding despite severe weather and economic disasters, attendees at a Northland Beef and Lamb field day were told recently.