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Story: Sheep farming

High-country muster

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In the high-country stations of the South Island, Merino sheep graze high in the mountains over summer. In autumn they have to be brought down to lower pastures before the winter snow arrives. This autumn muster is at Muller station in the Awatere valley, Malborough. Here the sheep can roam mountains that rise to over 2,000 metres – but bringing them down is an arduous and at times dangerous job.

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How to cite this page

Hugh Stringleman and Robert Peden, Sheep farming – Environment and sheep farming, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/16672/high-country-muster (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Hugh Stringleman and Robert Peden, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 March 2015.