The national sheep flock is continuing to decline with the number of total sheep falling by 3 per cent (773,000) to 24.4 million for the year ended June 2023, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

In the same period, total beef cattle numbers fell by 4 percent (167,000) to 3.7 million and dairy cattle by 1 percent (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,” says environmental and agricultural statistics senior manager Stuart Jones.

From 2011 to 2023, the total area in grassland (excluding tussock) fell by 12 per cent (942,000 hectares), the total number of total sheep fell by 22 per cent (6.8 million), and the total number of beef cattle fell by 5 per cent (192,000).

“This is a large area of grassland to lose from farming – it’s about the size of 15 Lake Taupos. Some of the land that was being used for grassland farming is now planted in forest,” says Jones.

The area in pine and other exotic forest (excluding native forest) increased by 11 per cent (179,000 hectares) 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 percent (813,000).

The exception was in Canterbury where there has been a 2 per cent (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 per cent (54,000 tonnes).

Agricultural exports

Agriculture continues to be a mainstay of New Zealand’s export industry. Of New Zealand’s total $69 billion exports for the year to 31 March 2024, the top four export products by value were:

-milk powder, butter, and cheese at 28 per cent ($19.6 billion)

-meat and edible offal at 13 per cent ($8.7 billion)

-logs, wood, and wood articles at 7 per cent ($4.9 billion)

-fruit at 5 per cent ($3.7 billion).