Sheep farming in New Zealand

Sheep farming is a significant industry in New Zealand. According to 2007 figures reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, there are 39 million sheep in the country (a count of about 10 per individual). The country has the highest density of sheep per unit area in the world. For 130 years, sheep farming was the country's most important agricultural industry, but it was overtaken by dairy farming in 1987. Sheep numbers peaked in New Zealand in 1982 to 70 million and then dropped to about 27.6 million. There are 16,000 sheep and beef farms in the country which has made the country the world's largest exporter of lambs, with 24 million finished lambs recorded every year.

Sheep were introduced into New Zealand between 1773 and 1777 with credit to James Cook, the British explorer. Samuel Marsden, a missionary, introduced some flocks of sheep to the Bay of Islands, and then also farmed in Mana Island close to Wellington for the purpose of feeding the whalers. The period between 1856 and 1987 was a bonanza period for sheep farming, resulting in economic prosperity of the country.

Johnny Jones was an early settler in Otago. When the whaling boom ended, he switched to farming in 1840. He was the first Pākehā who settled large numbers of immigrants on the east coast of the South Island, and he imported sheep amongst other stock for this purpose. One of the first to bring substantial numbers of sheep to Canterbury was John Deans in 1843. As was usual at the time, the sheep were bought in Australia.John Cracroft Wilson's endeavours of setting up as a sheep farmer in 1854 demonstrate the hardship that early settlers and stock often faced. He had a disastrous journey from Sydney where much of his stock died and 1,200 sheep had to be jettisoned. After landing in Lyttelton, his stock was transferred to the nearby Gollans Bay (the bay in Lyttelton Harbour beneath Evans Pass), where he lost more stock to tutu poisoning and southerlies.

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