Lower North Island farmers “cautiously optimistic” heading into winter – DairyNZ
Cautiously optimistic is how DairyNZ's regional manager for the lower North Island, Mark Laurence describes the mood of farmers in his patch.
Climate change activists, who believe NZ is going to hell in a handcart due to the methane emissions from the country's livestock population, will be delighted to learn that these numbers have fallen dramatically.
Latest figures released by Statistics NZ show that both our sheep flock and dairy cattle numbers have declined in recent years.
Sheep numbers fell by 3% in the year ended June 2020. Stats NZ figures show that there were 26 million sheep in total a fall of 800,000 from the previous year and a far cry from the peak flock of 70 million sheep in 1982.
The most recent drop in sheep numbers is blamed on the 2020 drought, which caused feed shortages. Hawke's Bay recorded 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, according to agricultural production statistics manager Ana Krpo.
"While the fall in sheep numbers during this period is related to the 2020 drought, there has been a general decline in the flock for almost 40 years," she adds. "During the past 10 years alone, sheep numbers have fallen by 6.5 million or 20%."
The total value of sheep-meat exports was $4 billion for the year ended June 2020. However, wool export values have plunged dramatically in recent years. In 2012, wool exports were worth $880 million, but that almost halved to just $40 million in 2020.
News that the country's milking herd in June 2020 was down 7% (400,000) to 4.8 million - from its peak in 2016 - should have the people at Greenpeace doing cartwheels.
Stats NZ figures reveal that there was a total of 6.2 million dairy cattle as of June 2020, down 1% (61,000) on the previous year. The four largest dairy farming regions are Waikato (1.8 million), Canterbury (1.2 million), Southland (683,000), and Taranaki (555,000).
"Despite a smaller dairy herd, the export volume has remained relatively steady in the past five years," Krpo says. "The annual value of dairy product exports increased to almost $16 billion in 2014 when international prices were high, before falling back to almost $11 billion in 2016, and returning to $16.6 billion for the year ended June 2020.
However, while the nation's dairy herd has declined our beef cattle numbers are up from 2016.
"The total number of beef cattle dropped consistently for the 10 years between 2006 and 2016," Krpo explains. "Since then, good beef prices between June 2016 and 2020 has seen NZ's total number of beef herd increase by 10% (350,000) to 3.9 million."
Total beef cattle numbers have steadied in recent time, with little change between the June 2020 beef cattle herd and previous years. Just over two-thirds of all beef cattle are farmed in the North Island.
NZ's total beef exports were worth about $3.8 billion for the year ended June 2020, up from $3.3 billion in year before.
Managing director of Woolover Ltd, David Brown, has put a lot of effort into verifying what seems intuitive, that keeping newborn stock's core temperature stable pays dividends by helping them realise their full genetic potential.
Within the next 10 years, New Zealand agriculture will need to manage its largest-ever intergenerational transfer of wealth, conservatively valued at $150 billion in farming assets.
Boutique Waikato cheese producer Meyer Cheese is investing in a new $3.5 million facility, designed to boost capacity and enhance the company's sustainability credentials.
OPINION: The Government's decision to rule out changes to Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) that would cost every farmer thousands of dollars annually, is sensible.
Compensation assistance for farmers impacted by Mycoplama bovis is being wound up.
Selecting the reverse gear quicker than a lovestruck boyfriend who has met the in-laws for the first time, the Coalition Government has confirmed that the proposal to amend Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) charged against farm utes has been canned.
OPINION: Dust ups between rural media and PR types aren't unheard of but also aren't common, given part of the…
OPINION: The Hound hears from his canine pals in Southland that an individual's derogatory remarks on social media have left…