With a population of 23.6 million sheep and 5.3 million people, there are about 4.5 sheep for each New Zealander, government statistics agency data showed. That’s down from 22 sheep per person in 1982, when farming sheep for meat and wool was New Zealand’s biggest earner. Now, years of falling wool prices prompted by a global shift to synthetic fibers have led farmers to change what they do with their land, the sector’s biggest lobby group said.