The national sheep flock fell 3% in the year ended June 2023, mainly due to a reduction in the area of grassland, figures released by Stats NZ show.
There were 24.4 million sheep in New Zealand, down 770,000 on the previous year.
In the same period, total beef cattle numbers fell by 4% (167,000) to 3.7 million and dairy cattle by 1% (45,000) to 5.9 million.
“The number of livestock has been dropping and this is linked to a long-term drop in the total area of grassland,” environmental and agricultural statistics senior manager Stuart Jones said.
From 2011 to 2023, the total area in grassland (excluding tussock) fell by 12% (942,000 hectares), the total number of total sheep fell by 22% (6.8 million), and the total number of beef cattle fell by 5% (192,000).
“This is a large area of grassland to lose from farming – it’s about the size of 15 Lake Taupōs. Some of the land that was being used for grassland farming is now planted in forest,” Jones said.
The area in pine and other exotic forest (excluding native forest) increased by 11% (179,000ha) between 2011 and 2023.
The total number of dairy cattle in New Zealand peaked in 2014.
Since that time dairy cattle numbers have fallen by 12% (813,000). The exception was in Canterbury where there has been a 2% (27,000) increase in total dairy cattle since 2014.
Fertiliser usage also showed a significant reduction. When comparing farmers’ use of urea with 2022 it fell by 11% (54,000 tonnes).
Agriculture continues to be a mainstay of New Zealand’s export industry.
Of NZ’s total $69 billion exports for the year to March 31, 2024, the top four export products by value were:
• Milk powder, butter, and cheese at 28% ($19.6bn)
• Meat and edible offal at 13% ($8.7bn)
• Logs, wood and wood articles at 7% ($4.9bn)
• Fruit at 5% ($3.7bn)
