

New Zealand has long been the butt of sheep jokes but latest figures show the nation’s woolly flock has slumped to its lowest number since World War II.

The latest national livestock survey showed flock numbers had dropped by 3.2% to 29.6 million, but sheep still outnumber people six to one.

Sheep numbers have been on a downward slide since 1982 where they had peaked at 70.3m. Sheep farmers switched to dairy farming en-masse and by 1987 it had overtaken conventional sheep farming which until then had been the backbone of the New Zealand economy.

Beef and Lamb chief economist Andrew Burtt said a continued decline in sheep numbers was influenced by a strong demand for mutton from China and a relentless increase in dairy farming.

Urban sprawl, plantation forestry and an increase in viticulture were all contributing factors. Some sheep farming land has also been converted to conservation estate land.

Australia’s trends have also mirrored New Zealand - the sheep population there declined from 170m in 1990 to an estimated 72.2m in 2014.

While sheep numbers in New Zealand might be dropping, New Zealand meat exports reached a record high of $5.3bn last year.

“The reality is the industry is doing a whole lot better with a whole lot less,” Burtt said.

According to Burtt the amount of lamb exported was down 3%, reflecting last season’s smaller lamb and sheep crop numbers but returns were up 9.5% to $NZ2.52bn. The average per tonne value of lamb being exported rose 13% to $8,300 compared to $7,400 in 2013.

Beef and lamb are still New Zealand’s second highest export, while wool is number fourteen after pearls, precious stones and metals.

Federated Farmers chairman of meat and fibre Rick Powdrell said he hoped an improvement in meat and wool returns would halt the slide in sheep numbers.



“Levels of production gain in sheep farming in recent years has been very impressive - farmers are producing the same amount of product from far less sheep.”

Powdrell who has owned owned a sheep farm for 28-years said initially sheep farmers had abandoned sheep farming in the late 1980s after major problems with eczema and fly strike.

“Thankfully there are much better forms of protection available now.”

Fewer sheep numbers is also threatening the future of rural New Zealand’s iconic shearing competitions as the number of local shearers falls.

Doug Laing of Shearing Sport New Zealand said the number of events had dropped from around 100 shearing competitions nationally to 60 a year.

Laing said the problem was a lack of shearers and that the problem was the worst in the far north of New Zealand as an increased number of farmers were switching to dairying.

“It’s a question of how long we can keep running these shows as they are because there are fewer and fewer shearers based north of Auckland.”

Sheep were introduced to New Zealand in 1777 by British explorer Captain James Cook and later Samuel Marsden, a missionary introduced flocks of sheep to the Bay of Islands and on Mana Island near Wellington in the North Island to feed whalers. Between 1856 and 1987 sheep farming boomed and New Zealand became prosperous.