New Zealand's sheep industry banks on good fortune for Chinese New Year

New Zealand lamb producers are hoping the Chinese Year of the Sheep will be good for business. In the past decade exports of the meat to China have risen steadily - good news in a country where sheep vastly outnumber people. These sheep are basking in New Zealand's long hot summer. They are part of the Sheepworld tourist attraction, a small farm in Warkworth with a rotating flock of some 160 sheep which teaches tourists and locals about rural New Zealand life - especially where sheep are concerned. Along with 4.5 (m) million people, there are some 30 (m) million sheep in New Zealand and the associated meat and wool industries are very important to the New Zealand economy. Meet Milo the sheepdog. She is a working farm dog and is responsible for rounding up and bringing in small flocks of sheep. Farmers communicate with their sheep dogs with a complex set of commands and associated whistles. Milo is rounding up a small flock of sheep which she will bring down the hillside to Sheepworld musterer and shearer Robert Allen. Milo is listening to Allen's commands and whistles and takes the sheep to him. The sheep are part of an ever changing flock at Sheepworld and - along with the dogs - are the stars of the daily shows. Robert Allen says sheep are part of the country's national identity. "Well New Zealand is famous for sheep. Once upon a time we had 80 (m) million sheep in New Zealand. We are down to about 30 (m) million sheep at the moment. But a lot of people want to know what we actually use these animals for and hopefully we are educating people in exactly why we use these animals and why we have got so many in the country." Allen says the sheep on the farm are free range. "Primarily our sheep stay outside all year round so they don't come into sheds and be fed over the winter time; they are not being locked away all the time. So these guys will actually spend all their life eating grass out in the paddock." According to Allen sheep are more complex than many people think. "Well believe it or not these sheep do actually have personalities. You get some that are really stubborn and want to fight with everybody including us and the dogs, some that are just quite happy and mellow and just go along with life and some that are just a bit scared and run for no reason at all. So every sheep will act differently whether it is working with a dog or working around us but they do actually have personalities of their own." Visitors to Sheepworld watch as Allen demonstrates how to shear a sheep. He talks about rural life in New Zealand and how sheep and sheepdogs are looked after. Following the show children have the chance to feed some hungry lambs. The sheep here are on loan from local farmers. Afterwards they will be returned to their home farms to breed or, if they are over one year old and male, they will be killed for their meat.. The Warkworth Butchery is near Sheepworld and 60 kilometres (37 miles) north of the city of Auckland. The owner, Rob Lees, says there are many reasons why New Zealand lamb is well known around the world. "The fact that from start to finish it is (reared) outdoors. New Zealand has great pasture and certainly got a good reputation for being a good meat producer." Lees is cutting up a lamb carcass and begins by chopping the carcass in half. He prepares a lamb rack and trims a leg ready for roasting. Lamb, along with the associated sheep meat products of mutton and offal, are big business in New Zealand. Beef and Lamb New Zealand is an organisation which markets meat at home and abroad, as well as looks after the interests of beef and sheep farmers. Beef and Lamb statistics show that lamb exports to China have increased greatly in the past decade. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/eff884d061a66528bf13c86027fd58d5 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork