内容摘要：Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at

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to the country, images of green fields filled with placid sheep against backdrops of snow-capped mountains dominated the country’s marketing abroad.But over years of decline for global wool prices since — and despite recent rallies — the national flock has steadily diminished. Now dairy holds the biggest share of New Zealand’s agriculture and horticulture-dominant export market.

In 2023, Stats NZ, a government agency, said New Zealand in 2022 dipped below five sheep per person for the first time. The national flock had lost a million more sheep in Tuesday’s figures, which recorded livestock numbers as of June 2024.Toby Williams, a spokesperson for sector lobby group Federated Farmers, said sheep farmers have switched to more lucrative pursuits — dairy, or the conversion of land from farming to pine forestry“If I’m really honest, the wool industry is almost at that tipping point, if not already there, of not having a wool industry anymore,” he said.

The government has drawn up measures intended to slow the decline, including an announcement in 2024 that they will place limits on the scale of farmland that can be converted to carbon forestry.New government procurement guidelines launched in April urge the use of New Zealand wool products — such as carpets and insulation — in newly constructed or refurbished public buildings. But those measures are not expected to halt declining sheep numbers.

Some sheep-farming countries are recording similar trends. New Zealand’s closest neighbor Australia — the source of most of the sheep jokes about New Zealanders — is also home to more sheep than people, but the national flock is shrinking there too.

The gap is slimmer: There are about three sheep per Australian.Authorities in the state reported that numerous drivers were rescued from floodwaters, while some residents in the small city of Lexington were evacuated from homes as the waters rose.

Oklahoma City set a record Wednesday with 11.94 inches (30.33 centimeters) of rain in April, surpassing the 1947 mark of 11.91 inches, according to Oklahoma State Climatologist Gary McManus.Oklahoma was poised to break the 1942 record for statewide rainfall average of 8.32 inches (21.13 centimeters) for the month, McManus said.

By Wednesday night parts of more than a dozen highways were closed due to flooding and three shelters opened in Comanche County.In the Dallas area, departures were grounded at Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport for part of the day because of thunderstorms, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Hundreds of flights were canceled at DFW International Airport and dozens more at Love Field, according to FlightAware.