Browse Data and Analysis

Favorable pricing and weather conditions for New Zealand cattle farmers have resulted in a retention of finishing cattle on farms and less slaughter in 2024. Farm operations face challenges with continuing financial pressure such as high debt, increasing on-farm inflation, and declining farmgate margins.

Following a gradual decline in the national cattle herd over the previous years, breeding cow numbers for beef and dairy are looking to stabilize in 2024. At the end of 2023, a new national coalition government was elected.

On April 14, 2023, the first outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in pigs in Poland in 2023 was announced. It is the first outbreak since September 2022, detected on a small backyard farm in Dolnoslaskie (Lower Silesia) province.

Since hitting peak numbers in 2016, the New Zealand national cattle herd has been very gradually declining and this is expected to continue in 2023.

In June 2022, Poland reported four new outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) on hog farms, The outbreaks were located in ASF restricted areas that have a high concentration of ASF infections in wild boars. Additional outbreaks on farms are expected as the disease is more prevalent in the summer.