There used to be 70 million! - with falling wool prices, less demand for sheep meat, and the current high prices for dairy produce, numbers have reduced to about 40 million (now down to about 24million in 2024) as many farmers convert from sheep to dairy. Also unfortunately economic reality forces some farmers into mass production which has a disastrous effect on both livestock welfare and also in some cases on the environment. Over dairying causes havoc on some rivers and streams as one example.

Fortunately there are still thousands of totally responsible farmers, caring for their live stock, producing great food for the consumers both locally and overseas.

Some other farm animals are also depicted in these images.