Sheep, Beef, Deer and Wool farming
Workforce Demographics
Workforce dataset (size and demographics) 
Source: Stats NZ Integrated Data Infrastructure
Ethnicity
The Sheep, Beef, Deer, and Wool industries are less diverse than most Muka Tangata industries and the ethnic composition has remained stable since 2015. The number of people who identify as Māori is similar to the average of people who identify as Māori across all Muka Tangata industries and slightly higher than all industries ( national benchmark). Overall, there are very few workers who identify as Asian and Pacific peoples in the Sheep, Beef, Deer and Wool industries compared to the ethnic composition across Muka Tangata industries and the average for all industries (national benchmark).
Age
The age profile of workers in Sheep, Beef, Deer and Wool farming is older than the average age profile of workers for all industries (national benchmark) as well as all other Muka Tangata industries. The Shearing Services workforce has a much younger age profile, with over half of the workforce being under 35 years of age.
Regional Distribution
Sheep and Beef Farming is primarily concentrated in Canterbury, Manawatu-Wanganui, and Waikato, while Canterbury, Otago and Southland are the primary locations for Deer Farming. Over one third of the Wool Wholesaling workforce are based in Canterbury, and about one fifth of Shearing Services are based in Manawatu-Wanganui, while the rest of the wool farming workforce is largely dispersed across the country.
Gender
In 2021, around one third of individuals working in Sheep, Beef, Deer and Wool farming industries were female, and this remained constant between 2015 and 2021. This falls below the national average (national benchmark) of 47% but aligns with the proportion of female workers across Muka Tangata industries (36%).