After decades of decline, New Zealand’s wool industry is making a comeback

Forty years ago there were more than 22 sheep to every New Zealander, but wool prices and production declined with the uptake of synthetic alternatives John Hargreaves’ family has farmed sheep and beef in Kaiwaka, north of Auckland, for generations. In the 1960s they had 3,000 ewes but in the decades since, as the value of wool declined and shearing costs grew, his flock slowly decreased to just over 1,700. But now, for the first time in roughly six years, his wool is making money. New Zealand’s once-famous wool industry is showing signs of a comeback, after the mounting costs of producing synthetic fabric triggered global demand for natural fibres. “We’re now covering our shearing costs and making some sort of a profit,” Hargreaves says. Sheep farming and wool production dominated New Zealand’s agricultural industry for nearly a century, with the number of sheep peaking at more than 70m by the 1980s – or roughly 22 sheep to every human. The economic policies of the 1980s, and a drop in global demand driven by the uptake of synthetic alternatives, drove down the price of wool. More recently, farmers have converted their pasture into more lucrative forestry blocks and