October 23, 2019

New Zealand's beef cattle herd up 2.6% from last year

Beef + Lamb NZ's (BLNZ) latest data on the state of the national sheep flock and beef herd show that in the last year beef cattle numbers rose 2.6% (or 97,000 head). Of the total 3.8 million, just over one million are breeding cows or heifers, Rural News reported.

The greatest rise in beef numbers was in the South Island, up 4.6%, while the North Island was up 1.8%. Most of the increase in the South Island was in Otago and Southland, while the East Coast and Taranaki/Manawatu were the main contributors to the rise in cattle numbers in the North Island.

Though overall beef cattle numbers were up, surprisingly the number of breeding cows fell in the last year by 1.4%. Against the national trend there was an increase in Otago. BLNZ predicts calving percentages for the current season will be in line with those of 2018.

In sheep, the national flock inched up 0.4% due to greater hogget numbers which rose 3.4% to 9.55 million. Set against that was a fall of 1.1% in the number of breeding ewes (16.97 million) held on farms.