1995 Farm Animals Booklets

        Finding this booklet was a major find for me. I collect New Zealand stamps connected with farming. It's a thematic collection on a subject I am very knowledgeable about since I am the manager of a large farm. With this booklet, I was able to add another 10 stamps plus two complete booklets to my collection. The stamps are colourful and cover a wide range of animals you might find on a farm. The one that stands as missing is a cat, they are always there, useful for catching mice etc. 

An overlapping set of the 10 45c stamps. (1st issue)

       The export of sheep, wool and dairy products has brought New Zealand billions of dollars and continues to do so today. Back in the 1960s, the majority of New Zealand farms would have been stocked with most of the animals featured in this booklet - horses, pigs, fowls, ducks and turkeys. Advances in technology and transport and a higher standard of living meant that by 1995, more specialised farming practices without the varied range of animals of previous decades. 

       Deer and goat farms were a relatively new phenomenon in 1995. Deer farming for their meat has been a big export earner whilst goats also became an important economic sideline for many farmers who were diversifying. Today, in 2018, this trend of change has continued with a large increase in dairy farming in recent years.

The 45c Booklet.

$4.50 - Booklet of ten 45 cent stamps.

Cover above and full opened booklet below.

Se-tenant Block of ten 45 cent stamps from Booklet.

First Day Cover - 1 September 1995.

Postal Rate Decrease.

Due to a postage rate decrease on 2 October 1995, the stamp booklet was reissued with 40c denominations. Also reissued as 40c denominations were a 1994 40c Ross Dependency Emperor Penguin gummed definitive stamp, a 1995 Christmas 40c Angel Gabriel gummed stamp and a 1995 40c Self-adhesive A to B gummed stamp. The Christmas stamp and Self-adhesive A to B stamp featured on the first-day cover along with the ten 40c Farmyard Animals stamps.

First Day Cover - 2nd October 1995.
The joint issue First Day Cover with the Christmas stamp and Self-adhesive A to B stamp with the ten 40c Farmyard Animals stamps.

The Stamps - A Used Set.
We could not find a set of the 45c issue so have decided to feature this set from the second 40c issue. Captions have been added by me since there were none available.

40c - Sheep.

Sheep - On our farms, we have around 5,000 of them. We keep them to graze on the steeper country at the back of our Home Farm. We take two wool clips each year and most of the one-year-old lambs go off as meat. Those black, bar-code looking marks over the sheep in the stamp above is a postal cancellation. 

40c - Deer.

We don't have deer as they need extra high fences and specially designed yards that are covered and dark. Deer are kept for their meat, venison and for the antlers velvet.

Notice this example carries a clear Auckland postal cancel.

40c - Horses.

Horses once were important on a farm both as the main mode of transport and for working and pulling of carts and machinery. These days horses are bred mainly for sport or recreation with most of the work once done by horses being now performed with machinery such as trucks, tractors, quad bikes and motorbikes. A clear Jan 2996 can be seen from the postal cancellation. 

40c - Cattle.

Cattle come in two basic categorises determined by their uses. First, we have the dairy cow used primarily for their milk. There is a smaller secondary use as Dairy Beef as well. The second type is cattle bred for beef. 

The cow above appears to be a large Freison cow bred for her large capacity for producing milk. I'm not sure why she would still have her calf with her as a suckling calf means she could not be milked for human consumption.

Our farms run 1,500 milking cows over three herds. We have 250 Herford Beef for a contact we have with a local butcher.  No 2 farm runs around 800 Dairy male calves we are raising for Dairy Beef. No 4 farm runs a similar number of female calves for replacements in our own dairy herds or sold as young heifers to other dairy farmers.

40c - Goats.

We have around 200 goats on our No 3 farm. The back half of that property has just recently been recovered from overgrown gorse. Goats are great in this situation as they love eating the young gorse and other weeds which return if not kept under control. We sell goat meat to the Indian community of Auckland where it is very popular as an alternative to lamb. If you have ever tried a goat curry you'll know what I mean.

40c - Turkey.

Turkeys often run half wild on some farms being kept for special meals such as at Christmas. We don't have any turkeys on our farms.

$40c - Ducks.

Ducks are much the same as turkeys, being mainly kept for their meat. There are a few ducks that my cousin has up on farm No 2. Personally, I think they are messy animals as they shit all over the place.

40c - Chickens.

All four of our farms has chickens or chooks. Keep a few near each farmhouse as a supply of fresh eggs and meat. We usually know chickens as being white but recently there has been a trend to return to the more tradition colourful breeds such as can be seen in the stamp above. 

40c - Pigs.

Pigs were almost always kept on dairy farms as they would take any milk unsuitable for humans but these days pigs are mainly found on larger farms especially set up for raising them. Of course, their obvious purpose is for pork and ham. I don't run pigs as I consider them a distraction from our core operations.

40c - Dogs.

Yes, dogs are a must on a farm. We are currently running three teams that work on all four farms for herding beef and sheep stock. Dogs are never used with the milking cow herds as close contact with dogs could stress a cow and put her off giving milk. Anyway, cows are usually very gentle animals that know their routine and are ready, waiting to stroll down to the milking shed.

For more on farm animals, you might wish to visit two pages from our Chinese New Year collection, 2003/2015 Year of the Sheep and 1997 / 2009 The Year of the Ox.   

1995 Singapore Jakarta World Stamp Exhibition.

Exhibition Miniature Sheet - $2.50

This exhibition product commemorated the Singapore'95 World Stamp Exhibition held in Singapore 1-10 September 1995. The sheet depicted the varied range of farm animals found in New Zealand. Issued 1 September 1995.

Technical information:

Date of issue: 1 September 1995.

Designer: Joanne Kreyl, Wellington, NZ.

Printer:  Southern Colour Print, New Zealand.

Stamp size: 25mm x 30mm; Miniature sheet 170mm x 70mm.

Sheet size: 10 stamps per booklet; Miniature sheet of ten stamps.

Process: Lithography.

Perforation gauge: 14 x 14.5.

Paper type: Harrison and Sons, red phosphor coated, unwatermarked.

Period of sale: These stamps remained on sale until 1 September 1996.

Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ

You can visit their website and Online Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/

Information for this post came from.

New Zealand Post (Stamps)