New Zealand's sheep population has stabilised after a long period of decline. The dairy herd also remains relatively static after a massive increase in the past few years, a survey shows.
And grape planting remains one of the fastest-growing sectors.
The 2003 Agricultural Production Survey of over 40,000 farms was conducted jointly
by Statistics New Zealand and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
Total sheep numbers remained roughly unchanged from 2002 at 39.7 million.
Sheep farming remains significant because good prices are being paid for lamb in international markets. Lamb earned $2 billion in export income for the year to June 2003.
The number of dairy cattle increased slightly to 5.2 million head. Previously, the national dairy herd had grown by 35 per cent between 1994 and 2002, due to the increased profitability of dairying over most other land uses. The breeding herd also increased slightly to 4 million. Dairy products (including casein) earned $5.6 billion in export income in the year to June 2003, or 20 per cent of the total merchandise export income.
The area planted in wine grapes continued to increase. Last year, the total area stood at 19,170ha, up 10 per cent from 2002, and up by over 50 per cent from 2000.
Two-thirds of New Zealand's merchandise export earnings come from the land-based primary sectors. Agriculture contributes an estimated 17 per cent to the gross domestic product if first-stage processing and manufacturing are included in the calculation. Horticultural exports have grown from $200 million to $2.1 billion over 20 years.
- Liam Dann and agencies
