Patchy rains have provided relief for some farming areas and left others without substantive moisture, says Chris Kelly, chief executive of state-owned Landcorp, New Zealand’s biggest farmer. The West of the North Island saw higher rainfall, with 15-40 millimetres from Northland to Waitomo down through to Taranaki. The West Coast, which applied for drought status last week, received 20-40 mm …

NZ Pork, the lobby group for the nation’s pig farmers, has lost its appeal against changes to import health standards that will allow raw meat from countries with Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) into New Zealand. The disease, also known as blue-ear pig disease, causes still-born piglets and respiratory illnesses in young pigs. It costs the US swine industry …

New Zealand’s services sector grew at the fastest pace in four months in January, adding to signs that business activity has strengthened in recent months. The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index rose 2.7 points to 55.5 in February, the highest reading since October last year and the high recorded for the month of February since the survey began in 2007. …