WELLINGTON, May 3 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's number of livestock has been decreasing which is linked to a long-term drop in the total area of grassland.
The national sheep flock is continuing to decline with the number of total sheep falling by 3 percent to 24.4 million for the year ended June 2023, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Friday.
The country's total beef cattle numbers fell by 4 percent to 3.7 million and dairy cattle by 1 percent to 5.9 million in the same period, Stats NZ said.
The dropping of the livestock number is linked to the receding of the total area of grassland, said Stats NZ environmental and agricultural statistics senior manager Stuart Jones.
From 2011 to 2023, the total area in grassland, excluding tussock, fell by 12 percent, with the total number of sheep falling by 22 percent, and the total number of beef cattle dropping by 5 percent, Jones said.
"This is a large area of grassland to lose from farming," he said, adding some of the land that was being used for grassland farming is now planted in the forest.
The area in pine and other exotic forests, excluding native forests, increased by 11 percent between 2011 and 2023, statistics show.
Fertilizer usage also showed a significant reduction in New Zealand, which fell by 11 percent when comparing farmers' use of urea in 2022, Jones said.
Agriculture continues to be a mainstay of New Zealand's export industry, he said. ■
