Farming and fishing

How to become a farm assistant

Official title: Farm assistant

Also called: Dairy farm assistant, Cattle farm worker, Farm worker, General farm hand, Farm general, General hand

Farm assistants help farmers manage and breed livestock and do other tasks on farms.

Main tasks

Care for animal welfare
Feed and water animals
Prepare animals for transportation
Operate, maintain and clean farming equipment
Care for animals during sickness and birth
Build and maintain fencing and water systems
Help with repairs and maintenance of buildings
Keep records of animal stock and farming equipment

How to become one

You usually learn on the job to become a farm assistant and experience or a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 2 to do the study or training for this job. Other requirements: experience in similar work; a New Zealand Certificate in Agriculture (Level 3); a driver licence.

See the full Tahatū profile

Ways in

Certificates and diplomas: Entry certificates in agricultural, environmental and soil science. TEC links this job to study in agriculture. Qualifications: NZ Cert in Primary Industry Skills. Usually 4 months. Graduates of these qualifications earn a median $47,000 a year one year after study and $57,000 five years after; 51% are employed one year after (TEC, from Stats NZ IDI data).

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

Median pay: $65,000 a year, a TEC estimate before tax.
Upper: $106,000 a year
TEC shows pay for this job by the hour: median $31.25 an hour.
TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Steady (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
People employed in the group Livestock Farm Workers: 10,656 at the 2018 Census and 7,701 at the 2023 Census (-27.7%). Past change, not a forecast.
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

About 15,000 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
In the group Livestock Farm Workers, 44% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
Where people in the group Livestock Farm Workers work (2023 Census): Waikato 19.5%, Canterbury 19.2%, and Manawatū-Whanganui 12%.

Questions people ask

How do I become a farm assistant?

How much does a farm assistant earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $65,000 a year, before tax.

Has the number of people working as a farm assistant grown in New Zealand?

It has held steady: TEC records the number of people doing this job as steady between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a farm assistant?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census totals by topic for individuals 2013, 2018, 2023 (CEN23_TBT_004): employed by occupation, ANZSCO V1.3, summed to unit group (2023 Census (CEN23_TBT_004)), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026