While farmers as private landowners are a prime target for native biodiversity conservation, they are also the focus of strong pressures to manage land for production. The pressure is particularly strong for dairy farmers who face a high capital outlay in the cost of land, dairy cows and milk company shares. This paper reflects on the messages that dairy farmers receive from the mass media about environment and production. It reports the results of a content analysis of articles from a popular New Zealand farmer magazine, and notes the news media reportage of a recent environmental policy initiative related to water quality. The aim of the content analysis was to compare the quantity of information that dairy farmers receive about environmental and production issues in a magazine that receives wide circulation within the dairy farming community.