PASTORALISM

1. PASTORALISM

2. 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.

3. STAGE 2: PASTORALISM FOR WOOL • 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Merino sheep found in the South Island high country.

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

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.