Farmers are sounding the alarm, warning the sheep industry is collapsing. 

Numbers in flocks have declined from 70 million just over 40 years ago to 25 million today.  

Farmers say carbon farming is the main factor, with 260 thousand hectares of land converted into forestry between 2017 and 2024. 

They say the farms harbour pests like stoats, feral pigs, and deer, which come onto their land and harm their livestock. 

Associate Agriculture Minister Andrew Hoggard told Ryan Bridge the problem has grown in the last three or four years – a lack of hunting during the Covid lockdowns seemingly allowing pests to breed. 

He says as they redo the Biosecurity Act, they’ll be looking at the clause dictating a landowner must maintain and control pests within their boundary, to see if it needs tightening. 

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