File photo / Bevan Conley
Salaries for farm employees across the dairy, sheep/beef and arable sectors have grown strongly over the past two years, according to the 2022 Federated Farmers – Rabobank Farm Salaries Remuneration Summary Report.
The report — which collates the results of a remuneration survey conducted between late 2021 and early 2022 — found salaries across on-farm positions were up by a weighted average of 14 per cent since 2020, with the mean salary rising to $63,931.
Dairy sector salaries increased by an average of 15 per cent, with salaries for sheep/beef positions up by an average of 14 per cent and arable salaries up by an average of eight per cent.
In addition to data and trend analysis for salaries across a number of on-farm roles, the report also provided a range of information relating to on-farm positions.
This included total package values (which factor in other employment benefits such as food and vehicle use), workers' length of service, accommodation costs and weekly hours worked.
Rabobank has partnered with Federated Farmers since 2008 to develop the report which was intended for use as a reference guide by both agricultural sector employers and employees.
Rabobank New Zealand chief executive Todd Charteris was pleased to see farm salaries on the rise but said it was also important to acknowledge the challenges employers faced in sourcing new staff over recent years.
This had played a key role in driving up on-farm salaries, he said in a statement.
"Farm owners have found it increasingly difficult to source skilled labour over recent seasons and this is highlighted by the report which found close to 70 per cent of employers were now finding it harder to source good employees than 12 months ago."
Covid-19 border restrictions had contributed by limiting access to overseas workers, while New Zealand's low overall unemployment rate had hindered efforts to get more local workers to take on new jobs in rural locations, Charteris said.
As a result, farm employers had to pay more to attract and maintain good staff.
Recent changes to immigration policy were another factor that had contributed to increased salaries on-farm, Charteris said.
"Since mid-last year, international workers have been required to earn an hourly rate above the median wage to be eligible for some lengths of visa and in some cases, this has prompted employers to bump up their existing international workers' salaries to ensure they surpass this threshold and are therefore eligible for a longer visa period."
Other factors that led to on-farm salary growth over the past two years included the healthy returns for farming businesses during this period and the high recent rate of inflation, the report found.
Listen to Rowena Duncum interview Todd Charteris about the report on The Country below:
According to the report, there were only minor differences in the average salary across the three sector groupings.
Arable workers earned the largest average salary at $65,498, with this slightly surpassing the average salary for dairy workers of $64,658 and the average sheep/beef salary of $62,352.
A dairy operations manager role – the most senior dairy position - recorded the largest salary increase of all the surveyed on-farm positions, jumping by 27 per cent from two years ago to a mean of $107,593, Charteris said.
"This is the highest average salary of all the surveyed roles and reflects the significant responsibility that comes with this role which includes managing the farm's physical performance and budget as well as negotiating with a host of farm supply companies."
The report found a big jump in the most senior arable sector role, up by 20 per cent, along with strong salary increases for some entry-level roles, including dairy farm assistant, up by 17 per cent and sheep /beef general hand, up by 16 per cent.
Accommodation was provided for 75 per cent of dairy employees, 61 per cent of sheep/beef employees and 41 per cent of arable workers, Charteris said.
"Accommodation continues to be provided for the majority of on-farm employees and, while the vast majority of employees will pay some rent, it's generally a much smaller proportion of their weekly salary than is typically the case for workers in other sectors based in urban locations."