Little sign of recovery soon for the country's sheep numbers, as they continue to drop

Beef and Lamb NZ shows breeding ewe numbers are down nearly 2-percent on last year, with this season's lamb crop forecast to be down nearly 120-thousand lambs.

However, beef cattle numbers are showing positive signs- rising 4-percent.

Beef and Lamb NZ Chair Kate Acland says numbers are particularly low for areas affected by carbon forestry.

She says breeding ewe numbers look set to continue to decline in the likes of Southland and the Western North Island, unless there's some real change.