PASTORALISM

STAGE 1: PASTORALISM FOR THE DOMESTIC MARKET  Initially pastoralism was conducted for the domestic trade. This was due to the perishable nature of the products and the lack of technology to preserve the products.  New Zealand’s non existent transport network made it hard to serve a large market.  This meant that both Maori and Pakeha farmed only enough sheep and cattle to meet local demands for meat and milk.

 Wakefield's schemes of the 1840’s imported large numbers of British settlers to NZ.  They arrived in NZ expecting to raise sheep and grow crops as they had done in Britain.  Some settlers managed to set up large runs especially in the South Island. STAGE 2: PASTORALISM FOR WOOL

The Contribution of Australian pastoralism  In the 1850’s there was a drought in Australia. This led to some Australian merino sheep and their owners being moved to NZ.  A gap opened up in the international wool market due to this. NZ was able to exploit this subsequently the 1860’s saw a huge rise in NZ sheep numbers and wool exports.

South Island focus  This stage of pastoralism was primarily based in the South Island, primarily Canterbury but also Otago and Southland.  Often people borrowed large sums of money to buy huge areas of land to farm.

Extensive Pastoralism  This means that there is very little money was invested into the land. Each acre of land supported very few animals.  Farms were large and boundaries were often natural land features such as rivers and mountains.  The Scottish practice of burning the land to produce better pasture was adopted.  This type of land was suited to merino sheep.

Merino sheep found in the South Island high country.

New Zealand’s most famous merino sheep in recent times – Shrek.

Wool and its by-products  Very little attempts were made to add value to the raw product. At best the wool was scoured (washed).  During this period meat was essentially a by-product of the wool industry. With the exception of the period of the gold rushes in the 1860’s there was a surplus of meat on the local market.

Employment  Extensive pastoralism offered very few opportunities for full time employment.  Full time work was available for men in the form of shepherding and boundary riding.  Seasonal work such as shearing, mustering, dipping and fencing (after the introduction of wire) was more common.

The Social Impact  The phase of pastoralism was associated with the formation of what historian Stephen Eldred-Grigg describes as the “southern gentry”.  They were people who began large scale run holding with very little capital during the wool boom period.  This also allowed them to diversify and invest in other sectors such as shipping, woollen mills and later freezing works.