Beef + Lamb NZ chairwoman Kate Acland said the lift in the lamb crop was a welcome boost after two challenging seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite tough weather conditions in parts of the country, farmers have achieved a strong lambing performance, which is a great result,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore saleable lambs than previously forecast will provide a good boost to farm revenue, particularly with global demand for lamb holding firm.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the overall number of lambs processed in the 2025\u201326 season is forecast to be around 17.07 million head, about the same as in 2024-25, when the number processed was down just over a million head. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, supply is likely to remain relatively tight.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acland said part of the reason was that some lambs would be retained to rebuild ewe numbers in areas affected by adverse weather. <\/p>\n
Farmers have indicated strong first-quarter processing intentions, with more lambs expected to head to processors between October and December.<\/p>\n
Global lamb supply remains tight, supported by an expected 5.8% reduction in Australian export lamb availability and continued low New Zealand supply.<\/p>\n
This, combined with strong demand for sheepmeat, is keeping farmgate prices at historically high levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sector remains cautiously optimistic,\u201d Acland said. <\/p>\n
\u201cPrices are holding, demand is strong, and farmers have sensibly focused on areas they can control. <\/p>\n
Acland said Beef + Lamb NZ was not blind to the wider pressures. <\/p>\n
\u201cSeasonal uncertainty, land-use change and regulatory headwinds continue to shape many on-farm decisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany farmers are keeping stocking policies flexible while exploring ways to lift performance, maintain resilience and build long-term business sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seasonal conditions over summer will remain an important factor. <\/p>\n
Niwa\u2019s outlook points to a moderate La Nina, with a risk of dry spells through late December and January alongside potential heavy rainfall events.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage farmers to prepare feed and water strategies for both dry conditions and potentially heavy rain events,\u201d Acland said. <\/p>\n
\u201cFarmers know how quickly things can change.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lamb Crop Report draws on data from more than 500 commercial sheep and beef farms nationwide. <\/p>\n
Beef + Lamb NZ will publish an updated forecast in its Mid-Season Update in March 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beef + Lamb NZ chairwoman Kate Acland said the lift in the lamb crop was a welcome boost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[113138,39158,3225,806,5589,18660,40147,113137,106,44405,685,700,25619,1132,3556,111,43,139,69,6777,1560,6926,810,379,2963],"class_list":["post-176531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-113138","tag-39158","tag-according","tag-as","tag-beef","tag-crop","tag-estimated","tag-ewe","tag-head","tag-lamb","tag-last","tag-latest","tag-lifts","tag-million","tag-national","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-performance","tag-report","tag-season","tag-up","tag-year","tag-zealands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}