Stories by Monique Steele

Conservationists are butting heads about the best way to control Fiordland's wapiti elk populations, now the subject of a legal stoush.

Velvetleaf can grow up to 2.5 metres tall, it has large, heart-shaped leaves with pointy tips and velvety hairs, and small, buttery yellow flowers.

A lack of rain on the North Island's East Coast may be good for the area's fruit and vegetable growers - but the dry is starting to bite for pastoral farmers.

It comes as new data shows a dramatic increase of dolphin captures and other fish and seabirds by the commercial fishing industry. Audio

A Christchurch company is expanding production of its South African-style dried meat snacks once again to keep up with insatiable demand.

The gains made in agricultural science over the past decade could slow as the government funding tap runs dry, the programme's director says.

One of the workers raised the alarm with MBIE.

Johnson Davis has been riding since he was a toddler and says he is "chuffed" to have the title - and the winner's trophy saddle.

Log inventories are piling up as orders from China slow in wait for prices to hit rock bottom, a forestry consultant says.

Dry conditions are no good for farmers right now, but at Dominion Salt's works south of Blenheim, workers can't get enough.

Unworkable and inconsistent regulations are making agricultural spraying near-impossible in some areas, says the New Zealand Agricultural Aviation Association.

With tomatoes retailing for as low as $2.99 a kilogram in supermarkets, it's not good news for growers, the industry says.

Kaitiakitanga, or guardianship, is driving a project to restore wild mussel beds around the ocean floor at the top of the South Island after years of overfishing.

Auckland computer scientist heading to the US to work on predicting stress levels in bees.

The partnership will have NZ scientists sharing planting practices, post-harvest and processing work, and how to export the high-value horticultural produce.

A Northland horticulturist hopes consumers will soon be able to buy locally-grown bananas in New Zealand.

The advice comes as China increases its own domestic dairy production and birth rates remain low.

The petition's organiser says he worked in the livestock export industry for 40 years and fears repealing the ban will unravel all the hard work that has been done.

Some farmers at the top of the South Island are already distributing their winter feed supplies to stock as dry conditions bite.

The government is proposing extending the duration of all existing consents by 25 years - removing the need for new ones.

The Environmental Protection Authority is holding public hearings this week in regards to its re-assessment of the use of hydrogen cyanamide.

Both countries face national and market targets to reduce methane emissions - and aim to refine how they are calculated.

WoolWorks New Zealand is shaking off a challenging and costly year, as it turns a corner in its Cyclone Gabrielle recovery.

Shearing is in the blood for the Wairarapa-based Gordon family who have been competing in the Golden Shears international shearing and woolhandling contest for decades.

Null segregants are descended from genetically-modified plant or animal organisms, but don't contain the genetic modification.