New Zealand’s closest neighbor Australia — the source of most of the sheep jokes about New Zealanders — is also home to more sheep than people, but the national flock is shrinking there too.

A hard-core group of 600 sheep handlers from around the world tested speed and dexterity in shearing fleece at the recent Golden Shears World Championships in Masterton, New Zealand.

Explore animal welfare in NZ’s sheep farming industry, from pain relief to best practices for castration, and how innovation is shaping the future.

New Zealand sheep farmers are fighting to stop the loss of pasture to fast-spreading pine plantations, which earn government subsidies to soak up carbon emissions.

New Zealand, long the butt of jokes for its disproportionately large sheep population, is seeing its human numbers creep closer to those of its ovine counterparts. While sheep still outnumber ...