NZ's sheep population down as dairy cattle numbers grow

The number of sheep fell by 1.2 million, or 4 per cent, to 29.6 million in the year to June. Photo / NZME.

New Zealand's sheep population - once the country's most quoted statistic - fell by 1.2 million, or 4 per cent, to 29.6 million in the year to June, down from its 1982 record of 70.3 million.

Sheep numbers have steadily fallen since the mid-1980s, owing to depressed wool prices, droughts in the 1990s and competition from farming activities such as dairy.

The number of dairy cattle has continued to rise, reaching 6.7 million at the end of June - up 4 per cent compared with the previous year, according to provisional data from the Agricultural Production Survey, which Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) conducts in partnership with the Ministry for Primary Industries.

SNZ agriculture manager Neil Kelly said favourable pastoral conditions contributed to the increase in dairy cattle numbers.

Beef cattle fell slightly over the year to 3.7 million from 3.64 million, and deer and pig numbers continued to decline, SNZ said.

In the year to March 50,000ha of exotic timber was harvested, similar to the March 2013 total.