Which farm jobs are the most in demand?

Agriculture Jobs Auswide founder Zoe Carter says one recently advertised job had over 60 applications as we take a look at which ag jobs are in demand.

The number of people employed in agriculture is slowly rallying, after Covid-19 disruptions saw industry scrambling to secure workers.

But while numbers and wages are growing across the sector, the total number of people employed remains well below figures seen 20 years ago.

Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed more than 322,000 people were employed across the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industry in the May 2024 quarter.

While the number of people employed in the sector has lifted compared to the 315,400 people employed same time last year, it is trending lower than same time 20 years ago, where 364,800 people worked in the industry.

Rimfire Resources analyst Jessica Roberts said a combination of an increase to minimum wage, coupled with incentives to drive employee applications, has lifted wages within the sector.

“Plus there’s a lack of supply, there just weren’t enough skilled workers needed to fill the jobs,” Ms Roberts said. 


“There was also a little reconciling for existing employees, making up for periods of lower pay.”

Rimfire Resources produces a rural jobs index tally each month, which Ms Roberts said showed demand for agricultural workers has “skyrocketed” off the back of Covid and longstanding drought conditions.

“One thing we have talked about a lot are the rising costs of employment for businesses has increased exponentially,” Ms Roberts said.

“In terms of superannuation, combined with the general cost of doing business, it’s a lot higher than it was five or even 10 years ago.”


Sheep, beef cattle, and grain farming is the largest sector in the industry, according to the ABS, employing just shy of 123,000 workers.

Within agriculture, livestock farmers are the largest employing occupation, followed by crop farmers, mixed crop and livestock farmers, livestock farm workers, crop farm workers, agricultural and horticultural plant operators, book keepers, packers, garden and nursery labourers, and deck and fishing hands.

Agriculture Jobs Auswide founder and operator Zoe Carter said she established her online agricultural jobs portal earlier this year to provide industry-specific job opportunities to job seekers.

Zoe Carter founded her own agriculture industry employment website, where jobseekers can find employment opportunities across the country. Picture: Supplied.

“It’s taken off really quickly, we’ve sent off 1600 resumes since (May),” Ms Carter said. 


“At the moment harvest and transport jobs are quite in demand, it’s the season we’re in. Then there are station jobs and a lot of governess caretakers jobs.”

Outside of harvest, Ms Carter said, station hands were continuously popular roles, with one job advertised recently receiving more than 60 applications.

“Manager positions, those middle jobs where the pay isn’t as fantastic … they tend to be slightly slower to fill,” Ms Carter said.

“And a lot of truck driving jobs are quite slow. Getting your license is quite expensive … a lot of people want to be driving trucks but it’s quite hard to pay for them.

“If there was an incentive or a grant for their licence, I think you’d see a ginormous jump in people applying for their truck licences.”