Historically New Zealand enjoyed a high standard of living which relied on its strong relationship with the United Kingdom, and the resulting stable market for its commodity exports. New Zealand's economy was also built upon on a narrow range of primary products, such as wool, meat and dairy products. High demand for these products – such as the New Zealand wool boom of 1951 created sustained periods of economic prosperity. However, in 1973 the United Kingdom joined the
European Community which effectively ended this particularly close economic relationship between the two countries. During the 1970s other factors such as the oil crises undermined the viability of the New Zealand economy; which for periods before 1973 had achieved levels of living standards exceeding Australia. These events led to a protracted and very severe economic crisis, during which living standards in New Zealand fell behind those of Australia and Western Europe, and by 1982 New Zealand was the lowest in per capital income of all the developed nations surveyed by the Global Bank.
Agriculture has been and continues to be the main export industry in New Zealand. In the year to June 2007, dairy products accounted for 21% ($7.5 billion) of total merchandise exports,
and the largest company of the country - Fonterra
, a dairy corporation, controls almost one-third of the international dairy trade. Other agricultural items were meat 13.2%, wood 6.3%, fruit 3.5% and fishing 3.3%. New Zealand also has a thriving wine industry, which had a bumper year in 2007; wine became New Zealand's "12th most valuable export" in that year, overtaking wool exports.
Livestock are rarely housed, but are sometimes fed small quantities of supplements such as hay and silage, particularly in winter. Grass growth is seasonal, largely dependent on location and climatic fluctuations but normally occurs for between 8–12 months of the year. Stock are grazed in paddocks, often with movable
electric fences around the farm. Lambing and calving are carefully managed to take full advantage of spring grass growth.
My grade for this category is 8.
