Stats NZ

Agricultural and horticultural land use

Updated
15 April 2021
The total area of land being used for agriculture and horticulture decreased by 2 percent (208,000 hectares)
Between 2017 and 2019

What is measured

We report on the use of land for primary production purposes, specifically agricultural land uses, such as beef and sheep farming and dairying, horticultural land uses, such as fruit and berry, and vegetable growing, and other land uses, such as forestry. We do this for the period 2002 to 2019.

Why it is important

Understanding agricultural and horticultural land use can allow us to monitor changes in land use and activity in primary industries. Almost half of New Zealand’s total land area is used for agricultural and horticultural purposes. Each land use places various pressures on the land and on receiving environments such as waterways. These pressures can be both positive (for example, increased productivity) and negative (for example, impact on soil and water quality, biodiversity loss, and reduced functioning of ecosystems).

Māori agricultural and horticultural land use is expanding through the aggregation of smaller land parcels to form larger farms for primary production. To balance kaitiaki responsibilities, Māori are determined to link cultural values with commercial objectives to maintain and extend Māori community and environmental wellbeing.

Key findings

Between 2002 and 2019:

The area of land used across New Zealand for:

  • agriculture and horticulture decreased steadily with an overall decrease of 1.9 million hectares or 14 percent
  • dairy farming increased 991,000 hectares (81 percent)
  • sheep farming decreased 1.7 million hectares (29 percent) and beef farming decreased 1.3 million hectares (32 percent).

Canterbury was the region with the largest decreases in the area of land used for farming:

  • beef (256,000 hectares)
  • sheep (683,000 hectares).

The Waikato region showed the largest increase in the area of land used for dairy farming (277,000 hectares) followed by Canterbury region with an increase of 213,000 hectares.

Between 2017 and 2019:

  • Overall the area of land used for agriculture and horticulture decreased by 2 percent (down by 208,000 hectares).
  • The reduction in the area of land used for farming sheep contributed to approximately two-thirds of the gross loss in area. Approximately one-third of the gross loss in area was driven by a reduction in the area of land used to farm dairy cattle.
  • A decrease in the area of land being used for agriculture and horticulture was seen in most regions. The region with the largest decrease in the area of land being used for agriculture and horticulture was Canterbury, decreasing by 123,000 hectares.
  • Canterbury and Southland regions had the biggest decreases in the area of land used to farm sheep with a decrease of 91,000 hectares (9 percent of the area used to farm sheep) and 87,000 hectares (18 percent of the area used to farm sheep), respectively.
  • Marlborough and Canterbury regions had the largest decrease in the area of land being used for dairy farms with a loss of approximately 36,000 (78 percent of what was in the region), and 33,000 hectares (9 percent of what was in the region), respectively.

Where this data comes from

Stats NZ

View data tables

Land use data

You can also download data from the visualisation tool on this page. However, the data from the tool does not contain metadata, and does not have the same name as the data tables.

Related indicators

Livestock numbers

Farm numbers and size

Fertilisers – nitrogen and phosphorus

Related content

Our land 2021

Environment Aotearoa 2019

Our land 2018

Environment Aotearoa 2015

Agricultural production statistics: June 2019 (final)

Agricultural production survey – including livestock, horticulture and forestry: from 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 (questionnaire 2019)

New Zealand Standard Industrial Output Classification – ANZSIC 2006

About the data

Agricultural and horticultural land is land identified as used for primary production in Stats NZ’s agricultural and production statistics, which come from the agricultural production censuses and surveys conducted by Stats NZ with the Ministry for Primary Industries. The Agricultural Production Survey collects data on farms that are goods and services tax (GST) registered and earn over $60,000 during a financial year. Every five years the survey conducts a census of all farms (52,300 farms in 2017) and undertakes a sample survey in non-census years (28,700 farms were surveyed in 2019). We use data from 2002 onwards because the current version of the census and surveys started in 2002. Before 2002, questionnaire design, coverage, and collection method varied, and the survey was conducted only in certain years.

The source of the target population of farms has evolved over time and has been based on Stats NZ’s Business Frame from 2002 and Business Register from 2015. From the target population, survey years use a stratified sample design. The population is stratified by region, size, and dominant farm type. Census years will not contain sampling error. However, there will be error with the imputation process applied to the data, given that not all farms respond. Survey years will contain sampling errors because estimates are made about the population using a sample.

For this indicator, we group the APS data into the following land use categories: dairy, beef, sheep, other livestock, grain, horticulture, and forestry. We do this for the period 2002 to 2019.

We have used a new method with data from the APS, with assumptions introduced relating to stock unit equivalents, carrying capacity, and dairy cows being preferentially grazed on grassland areas. These assumptions are used to apportion the different stock on a farm between the grassland and tussock areas of a farm. The new method provides a more refined estimate of the area used by the different stock types on each farm. The new method changes the estimated area of land used for agricultural and horticultural practices compared with the figures published previously for this indicator. Previous figures related to the single farm activity that earnt the most money, rather than the mix of farm activities that actually occurs within many farms.

Our method makes three main assumptions.

  1. We apportion the different stock on a farm to provide livestock-base area estimates. We do this by applying stock unit equivalents and carrying capacity of the farm grassland and tussock. The proportion of area of a farm required by different stock types is reflected by stock types equivalents for the various stock on a farm.
  2. Grassland areas of a farm carry more stock units (SU) than tussock areas, with the ratio of how many stock can be carried the same for different types of stock. The carrying capacity of an area is not affected by mixed grazing or whether different stock are being grazed separately.
  3. Where farms have dairy and other livestock with a mix of grassland and tussock, dairy stock graze the grassland portion only (unless the proportion of grassland to tussock is less than the proportion of dairy SU/non-dairy SU).

Total area of the farm used by livestock may include areas such as fodder crops and areas of grain and seed – this is not included in our analysis. We do not report on urban land use or use of land for conservation purposes for this indicator. For data on these, see related indicators exotic land cover, urban land cover, and indigenous land cover).

The different farm land uses for livestock were created by grouping responses in the Agricultural Production Census/Survey that related to the different types of stock. For example, linecode 7101 (dairy cows and heifers in milk/calf 2 yrs+) is counted as part of the dairy land use group. The land uses of forestry, grain, and horticultural are provided by the Agricultural Production Census/Survey and do not require grouping.

The estimates of the area of land use for agriculture and horticulture in this indicator differ from the figures in the exotic land cover indicator, which uses the Land Cover Database (LCDB). This indicator is derived from Stats NZ’s Agricultural Production Census/Survey and relates to what the land is used for. LCDB is based on classifying satellite data on the basis of what is covering the land. The different datasets have different limitations relating to, for example, how often they are collected, what they can determine, and coverage.

Rounding of figures is to the nearest 100,000 for larger numbers. Smaller figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

Percentage figures are based on unrounded numbers.

For further information about the model used to produce the data behind this indicator, see Modelling agricultural and horticultural land use area.

Data quality

The accuracy of the data source is of medium quality.

Agricultural and horticultural land use is a partial measure of the ‘Resource use and management, and other human activities’ topic.

Stats NZ and the Ministry for the Environment must report on topics related to the five environmental domains: air, atmosphere and climate, fresh water, land, and marine. These topics identify key issues within each domain.

Topics for environmental reporting describes the topics for each domain.

Data quality information has more information about the criteria we use to assess data quality.

Archived pages

Archived April 2021:

Agricultural and horticultural land use

Related topics
Related releases