Where have all the country’s sheep gone?
New Zealand used to be known for the size of its sheep population but there are now fewer than six of the animals for every Kiwi.
Beef and Lamb New Zealand’s latest stock survey shows the country now has just 27.4 million of sheep compared to more than 40 million in 2000.
At ‘peak sheep’ in 1982, more than 70 million sheep dotted the country’s rural landscape.
The current ratio is still high by global standards – across the ditch there are about 2.5 sheep per person – but it’s a far cry from the days when sheep outnumbered people by 22 to one.
Beef and Lamb economic service chief economist Andrew Burtt said sheep numbers had declined as land they were traditionally farmed on was lost to urban sprawl and dairy farming.
More had been converted to vineyards, kiwifruit orchards and other horticultural operations.
But although the number of sheep had halved since the 1990s, the volume of lamb meat the country produced was down only about 5 per cent, Burtt said.
‘‘There have been improvements in knowledge and technology that have led to better lambing percentages, better pasture growth and management, and heavier lamb weights,’’ he said.
‘‘The numbers overall might be down by 50 per cent but the average lamb weight is up from about 13 kilograms in the 90s to about 19kg now.
‘‘That hasn’t happened by accident, it’s happened through deliberate improvement by farmers.’’
While the number of sheep in the national flock rose just 0.4 per cent in the year to June 30, the country’s beef cattle herd increased by 2.6 per cent to 3.8 million, still a million short of an animal for every person.
At DairyNZ’s last count, published in January, there were almost five million dairy cows in the national herd.