Changes in farm patterns

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32702, 3 September 1971, Page 20

Changes in farm patterns

“In general it can be seen that the proportion of gross farm income derived from sheep has tended to decline from around 78 per cent to 65 to 70 per cent at the present time,” says the annual review of the sheep industry, issued by the Economic Service of the Meat and Wool Boards, in commenting on changes in the pattern of sheep farm

income in the years between 1962-63 and 1970-71.

“The era of extensive farming has almost passed and the greatest number of stock are now associated with intensive farming and high per acre production.

“Some indication of this intensification can be seen in the statistics of the number of sheep farm owners and sizes of flocks over a ten year period, 1961-1970. There has been a 7.3 per cent fall in the number of owners and a 24.4 per cent increase in the number of sheep per owner.

“The fall in the number of flock owners is attributable to some movement out of sheep mainly in the smaller flocks and to the merging of units. The increase in the size of sheep enterprises however (plus 24.4 per cent in number of sheep per owner) is an indication of the intensification process and this does not take into account the greatly increased numbers of beef cattle on sheep farms. A high proportion of the owners and sheep numbers occur in the 1500-2000 sheep group, but the most important by sheep numbers is the 2500-5000 sheep group (29.5 per cent). “There is a gap in flock size as between one-man and two-man units, probably in the region of 1800 sheep, depending upon the type of farms, and this is difficult to bridge. However, with the increasing substitution of capital for labour and use of off-farm services, and . the increase in cattle numbers, the limit on size of enterprise is lifting, and one-man units are likely to remain as a very important sector in New Zealand sheepfarming. “This increase in size of enterprise has been one of the means whereby a fall in farm product prices has, to some extent, been contained by individual farmers.

“It is sometimes said that these production increases are the source of many of the troubles current in the sheep farm industry. While in some cases and in some areas they have caused problems, in general this is not true. It is fortunate that the build-up in farm inputs and stock did take place, for it has been the means of strengthening many farm units to the point that they are in a

better position to withstand a period of adverse prices and rising costs.

“The most usually accepted means of increasing production is by an increase in stock numbers. However, there is some evidence to suggest that Insufficient attention is being given to production per head.

"Production increases are just as necessary as ever but the economics of increasing production in the future may lie more in increased per head performance than it has in the past. “Export receipts for New Zealand will be heavily dependent on the farming sector for many years to come, and as a very high proportion of income is derived from livestock it is fortunate that there is still good production potential in the livestock industry.