Beef cattle numbers increased at either end of the country during 2023-24, against the general decline elsewhere, most pronounced where drought has lingered.
The Beef + Lamb New Zealand annual stock number survey says cattle numbers increased by 0.4% in Northland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty, including a 9.5% increase in weaners, up by 34,000 head.
In Southland, total beef cattle numbers were up 5.1% on June 30, compared with 12 months prior, and that increase included 14% more weaners, up 10,000 head to 80,000.
The backdrop of national beef cattle estimates is a 2.8% reduction over the past year, from 3.654 million down to 3.552 million.
BLNZ said total beef cattle numbers have dropped 410,000 head since the most-recent peak of 3.96 million in 2021.
In commentary on the numbers, the report says Otago and Southland had contrasting cattle movements because of drought in Otago.
In that province breeding cow numbers were down 6% and in Southland they were up 9%.
In the north, total sheep numbers were largely unchanged at 2.95 million and beef numbers went up marginally to 1.19 million head.
Weaners were up 10% to 393,000 head and on the hill country they were up 12%.
A move to more dairy grazing cattle was apparent in the numbers on hand at June 30.
Dairy grazing is viewed as a steady income source that smooths cashflow.
Some sheep and beef farmers reduced capital livestock to enable dairy grazing.
The number of finishing farms continues to decline due to land use change.
Market gardens, arable farming, dairying and urbanisation all impact on the number of finishing farms and a change in land use often occurs when a farmer plans to retire.
While it came later than expected, drought hit many parts of the country in the past six months.
The hardest hit areas were Northland, Taranaki, Wairarapa, Horizons region, Tasman, Marlborough, Nelson districts and Canterbury and Otago.
These are predominantly sheep- and beef-producing regions.
Thought not affected by drought to the same extent, the east coast region had a 2.4% reduction in total sheep and cattle numbers. BLNZ said there were multiple reasons, including “poor pricing for sheep, drought for some and wet conditions for others, cashflow management, a focus on rebuilding infrastructure and farmland after adverse weather events and before increasing stock numbers, and greater stock losses due to animal health reasons”.
“More seasoned farmers, or those nearer retirement, were actively switching from sheep to cattle” it said.
“Changes were made to reduce workloads and animal health costs with less labour
requirements for cattle.
“The cattle market was steady while returns for sheep were poor.
“Farmers wanted to improve profitability and put their farm businesses in a better position for sale or succession.”
