McIvor moving to OSPRI
Beef + Lamb New Zealand chief executive for the past eight years, Sam McIvor is heading for new pastures at Ospri, which runs NZ’s integrated animal disease management and traceability service.
Sheep numbers increased 2.6% and beef cattle numbers increased 1%.
This partly makes up for the 4.4% decline in sheep and 2.6% decline in beef cattle the year before.
B+LNZ's annual stock number survey, which establishes the productive base of livestock for 2012-13, shows that while sheep numbers were up 2.6% most of this increase will be stock carried over for slaughter in July-September.
B+LNZ Economic Service executive director, Rob Davison says breeding ewe numbers at 20.61 million are almost static on the previous June when ewe numbers fell 6% to a low of 20.49 million.
Strong mutton prices earlier in the year encouraged a high slaughter of cull ewes for the second year in a row. The offset to this was a high retention of ewe hoggets (+10%) last July which by 30 June 2012 were mature first time in lamb ewes.
"Ewe condition is good across the country. Scanning results for most regions show in-lamb ewes are carrying more multiple lambs with the general comment that scanning percentages are up 5 to 10% on last year.
"All we need now is an excellent spring to ensure high survival of the lambs born."
Beef cattle numbers increased 1% to 3.88 million and partly reversed the 2.6% decline for the previous year. North Island beef cattle numbers increased 3.6% with increases in both the beef cow herd and weaner cattle numbers.
