Livestock numbers down in New Zealand
According to the final results of the five-yearly Agricultural Production Census 2022, conducted by Stats NZ, there are fewer dairy cattle, sheep and deer being held in New Zealand.
A small decrease of 1% from the previous year was seen for dairy cattle numbers, at 6.1 million head. The herd peaked in 2014 with 6.7 million.
Total sheep numbers saw a drop of 400,000 (2%) compared to the previous year.
Beef cattle numbers have seen a stabilising over recent years with figures in 2022 mirroring those in 2019 at 3.9 million head. Beef cattle numbers peaked with 6.3 million in the 1970’s whilst 2016 saw a historic low at 3.5 million.
The Agricultural Production Census 2022 provides a detailed snapshot of New Zealand’s production and practices.
Photo by Tom King on Unsplash
