• Dairy farming and sheep shearing are popular occupation in Australia and New Zealand . Explain?
Answers
Explanation:
Popularity is not a consideration when it comes to selecting a farming product.
Inputs versus return, i.e. “Return on investment”, or ROI is the deciding factor.
So the considerations must include the local climate and soil types, thus available grazing and suitability of the livestock for the intended environment.
Sheep perform very well in cool and wet to warm and semi-arid environments, which can be found in the lower 2/3 of Australia.
They do not perform well in the tropical regions in the far North due to wool rot and fly strike.
Historically sheep were introduced to a large proportion of Australian pastoral regions. Duringthe 1800’s you could not transport live animals or chilled meat products easily, but wool was in demand and non-perishable. It helps that the industry was established prior to the development of synthetic fibres.
Australian sheep breeders have selected for wool production and fine fibre (<21 micron) to supply the fabric industry, not meat producing. The Australian Merino lines are based on the Spanish Merinos.
The meat breeds currently run are generally old British breeds, or New Zealand lines. These breeds tend to produce a coarser fibre only suitable for carpets and Swanny jackets… (for the uninitiated, Swanndri is a New Zealand clothing manufacturer