Sheep production in New Zealand is set to fall

The New Zealand sheep flock has been falling consistently for decades, with numbers falling from 39.3 million in 2003 to a record low of 24.4 million in 2023. Over the same period, sheepmeat export volumes have been remarkably stable, due to a combination of falling domestic consumption and steadily increasing carcase weights. This trend continued in 2023–24. Combined sheep and lamb slaughter lifted 6% to 22.2 million head, and a stock turn-off rate of 91%, well above the 10-year average of 84%. This high stock turn-off rate suggests the flock is currently destocking and that future slaughter will be lower. Slightly lighter carcase weights resulted in a production lift by 5% to 449,606 tonnes carcase weight equivalent (mt cwe), a slightly smaller lift than the increase in slaughter. Over 2023–24 increases were seen in sheepmeat exports, with NZ exporting 414,893 mt cwe, 4% more than the previous year. Although there was an increase in exports, the numbers were slightly weaker than ...