What is New Zealand's main agriculture industry?

1. Characteristics of agricultural development

New Zealand’s agriculture is affected by its social, economic, labor and natural conditions, and is different from Europe, the United States and neighboring Australia. In summary, there are three unique features.

1. Mainly animal husbandry. New Zealand is one of the most important livestock farming countries in the world. Livestock is the backbone of New Zealand's economy. The output value of animal husbandry accounts for about 80% of the total agricultural output value, and the population engaged in animal husbandry also accounts for about 80% of the agricultural population. It is the country with the largest number of sheep and cattle per capita in the world.

2. Mainly family farms, but the scale of operations is smaller than in Australia. Family farms in New Zealand account for more than half of the total farm area, and farm owners and their family members account for three-quarters of the farm labor force. Generally speaking, New Zealand is a country with fewer people and more land. The pastures are particularly vast, with an average of 3.8 hectares per person in the country. The size of New Zealand family farms is only about 1/10 that of Australia, and smaller than that of the United States. The average size of New Zealand cattle and sheep farms is 538 hectares, with 3475 livestock units, that is, 2600 sheep and 214 cattle (1 cow is equivalent to 5.5 livestock units).

3. The commodity rate of agricultural production is high and the dependence on foreign trade is also high. New Zealand's agriculture has been highly mechanized, with obvious specialization and intensive management. Not only is the yield per unit area relatively high, but agricultural labor productivity is also very high. In 2001, New Zealand's grain yield level was 6208 catties/ha. Milk production in 1999 was 11.372 million tons. On average, each agricultural labor force produces 63.3 tons of milk, 3.8 tons of mutton, 2 tons of wool, 1.1 tons of cheese, and 2 tons of butter. Since many of New Zealand's products must be exported, it is highly dependent on foreign trade, and fluctuations in the international market sometimes have some impact on the agricultural economy.

2. Agricultural production structure and foreign trade

1. Livestock industry New Zealand’s livestock industry is the most important industry in the country and the foundation of the economy. There are 13.65 million hectares of pastures in the country, 24,400 sheep farms, and 16,670 dairy farms. Cattle and sheep farms are growing in size, with large farms accounting for 43% of the total holding 66% of the livestock, while the remaining 57% hold only 33%. The livestock industry is dominated by cattle and sheep. In 2002, 3.58 million cattle were slaughtered and the output was 610,000 tons; the number of goats and sheep slaughtered was 30.76 million. The output is 540,000 tons; the annual meat output is 1.35 million tons, and the milk output is 13 million tons.

(1) Cattle raising industry. The largest number of cattle raised in New Zealand was 1974, reaching 9.31 million. Nowadays, the number of cattle raised has decreased, but the production of meat and milk has increased. New Zealand's beef cattle production has been stimulated by the world market and has transformed from being dominated by dairy cows in the past to becoming an important beef cattle producer. There are now about twice as many beef cattle as there are dairy cows producing milk. The main breed of beef cattle in New Zealand is Angus cattle, accounting for 3/4% of the total number. They have black hair, no horns, are resistant to rough feeding, have well-developed muscles, and have high carcass quality, making them suitable for intensive management. The dairy industry still ranks first in New Zealand's total agricultural output value, with 3.75 million dairy animals in 2002. The output in 2002 was 400,000 metric tons of butter, 310,000 metric tons of various cheeses, and 510,000 metric tons of milk powder. 90% of the dairy cows are located in the North Island, mainly grazing on artificial pastures. The main breeds are Juanzha cattle, Friesian cattle and Ayrshire cattle with high milk fat content.

(2) Sheep raising industry. New Zealand's sheep population has declined in recent years. In 2002, the sheep and goat populations were 43 million and 182,000 respectively. Wool focuses on medium and fine wool, accounting for 70% of the country's wool production and 40% of the world's total production. New Zealand is world-famous for its high-quality lamb. In 2002, the output of mutton and lamb was 530,000 metric tons, ranking first in New Zealand's production of all types of meat and an important source of foreign exchange. The meat production of each lamb in New Zealand reaches 15 kilograms, and that of adult sheep is 20.5 kilograms. New Zealand's sheepskin production in 2002 was 100,000 tonnes of raw sheepskin and goatskin. New Zealand has established breeding standards for various breeds of sheep, and the registration of breeding sheep is very strict. Among them, the most important breed is Romney sheep, accounting for about 2/5 of the total number of sheep. Corrida sheep are famous for their wool and meat.

(3) Pig industry. New Zealand's pig industry has always been on the back burner due to constraints on concentrate feed production. The highest number of pigs raised was in 1964, reaching 770,000, producing 47,000 tons of meat. The number of pigs has now decreased. In 2002, the pig population was 350,000. However, pork production remains stable. In 2002, total pork production was 46,000 tons.

(4) Horse breeding industry. It is said that New Zealand's thoroughbred horses are one of the finest breeds in the world. New Zealand horses have a winning rate of 58% in competitions and have won many international horse racing awards. New Zealand thoroughbred horse exports exceed S$100 million.

(5) Deer breeding industry. In recent years, the deer breeding industry has developed rapidly, reaching 1.06 million. It produced 14,000 tons of venison, of which about 9,000 tons were exported, earning NT$90.4 million in foreign exchange; 460 tons of velvet antler was produced, of which NT$45 million worth of velvet antler was exported (all FOB prices).

(6) Poultry industry. Poultry has also developed to a certain extent. There are currently 480 poultry farms. In 2002, 71.12 million chickens were slaughtered and 120,000 metric tons of meat were produced. Egg production is 44,000 metric tons.

In summary, New Zealand’s livestock industry has the following characteristics: (1) Production develops rapidly and fluctuates less. Animal husbandry has always played a leading role in New Zealand's agricultural development. In the entire century of development history, there have been no major fluctuations and basically maintained a growth trend. (2) Mainly grass-eating livestock such as cattle, sheep, and deer.

These grass-fed livestock account for more than 90% of the total value of livestock products.