Taranaki farmers face uncertain outlook despite grass growth after drought
The grass may be growing again in the drought-stricken coastal area of Taranaki, but the outlook for many farmers there is far from rosy.
The number of sheep fell by 3% in the year ended June 2020, Statistics NZ says.
Final figures show there were 26 million sheep in total - a fall of 800,000 from the previous year and a far cry from the peak of 70 million in 1982.
“The 2020 drought caused feed shortages that led to a fall in total sheep numbers. Hawke’s Bay had the largest decrease, with the total number of sheep falling by 12% (346,000) from the previous year to a total of 2.5 million as at June 2020,” says agricultural production statistics manager Ana Krpo.
Krpo says that while the fall in sheep numbers during this period is related to the 2020 drought, there has been a general decline for almost 40 years.
“There are now five sheep per person – a drop from the 1982 historic high of 22 per person.
“Over the past 10 years alone, sheep numbers have fallen by 6.5 million or 20%. A strong contributing factor to the five-sheep-per-person metric was the increase in New Zealand’s population, from 3.2 million in 1982 to 5.1 million in 2020,” Krpo says.
The total value of sheep-meat exports was $4 billion, for the year ended June 2020.
The export value of wool has plunged dramatically in recent years. In 2012, wool exports were worth $880 million, but that almost halved to just $460 million in 2020.
Questions are being raised about just how good the state of the dairy industry is - especially given that the average farmgate payout for the coming season is set to exceed $10/kgMS.
A leading financial and banking advisor says he doubts if most dairy farmers fully understand the dynamics of banking.
Dairy farmers are shoring up their balance sheets, with almost $1.7 billion of debt repaid in the six months to March 2025.
Virtual fencing company Halter is going global but for founder Craig Piggott, New Zealand farmers will always remain their main partners.
A former Fonterra executive is the new chair of the Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand (DCANZ).
New Federated Farmers national dairy chair Karl Dean is looking forward to tackling the issues facing the sector.
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