New Zealand’s farming sector — dairy, sheep and beef, and horticulture — employs well over 100,000 people, and farm owners consistently say they cannot find enough staff. If you’re overseas and looking for genuine farm work in New Zealand, there are two very different pathways available, and knowing the difference will save you months of wasted effort.
This guide covers the types of farm jobs on offer, realistic pay, real employers, and — most importantly — which visa route actually applies to you.
The Types of Farm Jobs Open to Foreign Workers
- Dairy farming — farm assistants, herd managers and 2ICs on New Zealand’s roughly 10,000 dairy farms, concentrated in Waikato, Canterbury, Taranaki and Southland.
- Sheep and beef / livestock — stock managers, shepherds and general hands on pastoral farms, mostly in Canterbury, Otago, Southland and the North Island’s East Coast.
- Horticulture and orchards — orchard assistants, packhouse staff and machine operators growing apples, kiwifruit, grapes and stonefruit in Hawke’s Bay, Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Marlborough.
- Arable and general farm work — machinery operators and general hands on cropping farms in Canterbury and the Manawatū.
Understanding Your Visa Options — This Is the Part Most Guides Get Wrong
There are two completely separate routes into New Zealand farm work, and they are not interchangeable:
1. The Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme. This scheme lets horticulture and viticulture employers bring in seasonal pickers and packers for up to seven months. It sounds like the obvious route for fruit and vegetable work — but it is only open to citizens of Samoa, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati and Timor-Leste. If you are not a citizen of one of these Pacific nations, you cannot apply through RSE, no matter what a recruiter tells you.
2. The Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV). This is the realistic route for everyone else. It requires a genuine, signed job offer from a New Zealand employer that holds Immigration New Zealand accreditation. There is no sponsorship without an actual job offer — and no legitimate employer or agent will ask you to pay for one. Since March 2025, employers must pay at least the New Zealand market rate for the role, with a wage floor of NZD $23.95/hr.
In practice, this means dairy, livestock and machine-operator roles — which are semi-skilled, ongoing positions — are realistic AEWV targets for overseas applicants. Short-term entry-level fruit picking is harder to get sponsored, because it is heavily filled by RSE workers and New Zealand’s own working holiday visa holders first.
Real Employers Hiring Farm Workers
- Fonterra FarmSource — job listings from Fonterra-supplying dairy farms nationwide
- LIC (Livestock Improvement Corporation) — dairy herd technicians and agri-technicians
- Independent dairy and sheep/beef farms — thousands of family-owned operations in Waikato, Canterbury and Southland, many AEWV accredited
- T&G Global (Mr Apple) — orchard and packhouse roles in Hawke’s Bay and Nelson
- Trevelyan’s Kiwifruit & Avocado and Seeka — Bay of Plenty orchard and packhouse operators
What Pay to Expect
- Dairy farm assistant: NZD $24–$30/hr, often with on-farm accommodation included
- Herd manager / 2IC: NZD $28–$34/hr plus experience-based bonuses
- Shepherd / stock hand: NZD $24–$29/hr
- Orchard and packhouse staff: NZD $23.95–$28/hr
- Machinery and tractor operators: NZD $26–$32/hr
Qualifications and Experience Employers Look For
New Zealand farm employers rarely require a local qualification. What they do want is proven, hands-on experience — ideally with dairy cattle, livestock handling, or orchard machinery in your home country — a valid driver’s licence, physical fitness for outdoor work in all weather, and a genuine willingness to relocate to a rural area. A basic tractor or quad-bike operating background is a strong plus for dairy and machinery roles.
How to Apply
- Check Immigration New Zealand’s accredited employer list before engaging with any employer or agent.
- Search Fonterra’s FarmSource jobs board, AgriHQ Jobs, Seek NZ and Trade Me Jobs for current listings.
- Apply directly with a short cover letter stating your farm experience and that you are seeking AEWV sponsorship.
- Once you have a signed job offer, apply for your AEWV through Immigration New Zealand.
Final Thoughts
New Zealand farm work is genuinely open to foreign workers — but only through a real job offer and an accredited employer. Focus your search on dairy, livestock and machine-operator roles where AEWV sponsorship is realistic, and treat any agent who promises RSE access outside the Pacific, or guarantees a picking job for a fee, as a red flag.
Also worth reading: our guides on 25 New Zealand companies hiring skilled foreign workers in 2026 and the Accredited Employer Work Visa process explained.