Excerpt from New Zealand's Livestock and Meat Industry Of New Zealand's total area of 66 million acres, more than half is utilized in some form Of livestock Operation. The breakdown Of land utilization is as follows: Utilization Extensive sheep farming (wool production) Semi-extensive sheep farming (wool and store sheep) Intensive sheep farming (fat lamb production) Dairying and fat lamb production Dairying Intensive sheep farming and cash cropping Orchards and market gardens Indigenous forests (including parkland) Exotic forests (including parkland) Undeveloped land (including nonagricultural areas) It is important to note that beef cattle generally are raised on sheep farms. Also, dairy farmers produce beef from dairy stock and by breeding dairy cows with beef bulls. The trend in New Zealand livestock production in recent years has been towards larger units. This has been accomplished largely through consolidating family-owned operations and increasing the carrying capacity of existing properties by fertilizing and reseeding and by improving management practices. Most Of the remaining, limited acreage Of new land available for development is located in hilly areas at high elevations and is further removed from population centers. According to New Zealand's 1960 agriculture census, about 50 percent of the agricultural land was held under freehold title, 42 percent was crownland (including leases and licenses), and 8 percent was held in lease. Although these percentages undoubtedly have changed somewhat since 1960, it is obvious that the Government has, and continues to play, a prominent role in land development and related matters. The Department of Lands is New Zealand's largest single farm operator. Since 1941, over 3 million acres of Government-owned land has become available to the Department for clearing and developing for ultimate distribution to private operators. In 1969, the Department's farming Operations in land development projects encompassed million acres, and as Of July 1, 1969, supported million sheep and head Of cattle. When the land is developed to an extent that it is profitable to Operate, it is Offered for private acquisition either by sale or by long-term lease in blocks, predetermined to be of economic size by type of enterprise. The Department's Land Settlement Committee maintains a list Of eligible applicants from which new settlers are drawn. During the year ending March 1968, a total of 20 sheep units and 5 dairy units were made available to new settlers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.