Beef is fattened for local market and export overseas. Deer are farmed for venison and velvet production abroad. Dairy cows are farmed for milk production but are in low numbers in this area. Much of the earliest land farmed was developed from tussock and light scrub but later bush was fallen and cleared. The South Catlins has a reliable moderate to heavy rainfall of around 60 inches per year.
Temperatures are cool to moderate and very dry conditions are uncommon.
Land running back from the Mataura River from Fortrose to Mataura would have been farmed earliest in the late 1870s and is still regarded heavier land with better production. Invercargill is the main farm servicing centre with two freezing works close to Invercargill - one at Mataura and one at Balclutha. Invercargill is up to 50 miles from the eastern side with a phosphate work also close to Invercargill. Bluff is the closest port about 10 miles south of Invercargill. Sheep and cattle are wintered outside.