Following on from the story on agricultural education is this evidence in the wages survey, that agriculture as a career option is financially worthwhile. Historically, working for wages on farms was uncompetitive compared to urban options, and rural NZ suffered as labour shifted to the cities looking for better rewards.
However the worm has turned, and better times down on the farms and a shortage of quality farm employees, has seen this reversed and wages ahead of town opportunities, are now the norm. This needs to be sold better by agriculture so that farm jobs are taken up by NZ youth not overseas immigrants. Youth unemployment is unacceptably high, but this does offer agriculture a resource that farmers can use.
Upskilling courses run by AGITO, the agriculture universities and technical institutes are avaliable so the unskilled can quickly get up to speed. Career advancement is now more readily achievable with many employment responsibilities in larger run operations. The average age of farmers is very high, and agriculture needs an influx of youth to drive it forward into the future. Competitive wages will help.
While the recession continues to dampen wages and salaries outside the farm gate, inside it, farm workers recorded an overall average salary rise of 4.9 percent in the year to October 2010, according to the Federated Farmers/Rabobank Farm Employee Remuneration Report for 2010. “With inflation running at around 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2011, farm workers are better off personally and professionally with average wage and salary increases of 8.2 percent in the past two years,” says Don Nicolson, President of Federated Farmers.
“At $45,410 per annum, the average farm employee earned $8,567 more than the average personal (mean) annual wage and salary income earner. “The average total package value (TPV) for employees, including such things as housing and vehicles, mean the package value was $49,474.
“The squeeze has come at the managerial levels, especially in dairy, where mean TPV’s fell by 8.6 percent to $73,360.“Then again, senior dairy farm managers benefited from sizeable increases in 2008 and 2009. The higher employees go, the more they seem to be expected to share business volatility.“By contrast, the improved picture for sheep and beef has translated into mean TPV increases for senior management of 7.25 percent. Senior arable farm managers recorded a slight increase as well.
“Casual skilled farm labourers saw an increase of just under 2.5 percent to pass the $20 an hour mark. The hourly rate for unskilled farm labourers continued a downwards trend and the increasing monetary gap between the two, highlights a focus on quality over quantity.
“The Emissions Trading Scheme has increased electricity prices as well as many basic farm inputs. New compliance elements, like the National Animal Identification and Tracing Scheme, look set to impact farmers with cattle from November.
“Then again, it’s important not to place too much importance on wages alone. Output is key to farm income so farm worker productivity is something the wider economy should note.“Some New Zealanders have a ‘right to a raise’ mentality instead of looking at their individual productivity. Higher wages won’t close the gap with Australia, but productivity will. So agriculture should be a top choice for people looking at career choices". said Don Nicolson
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