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ANZSCO 1213Skill level 1Primary industries

Farmer

Manage cropping, livestock and mixed farming operations across Australian regions.

Registration: Chemical Users (ChemCert), heavy vehicle and tractor competencies depending on the operation

Salary

Cited figures from Job Outlook and QILT. ExamExplained does not publish predictive earnings or projections.

FigureAUDSource
Full-time weekly earnings$1600Job Outlook (2025-06-01)

How far does this stretch in each city?

What a farmer actually does

Most farmers are owner-operators running a family business as well as doing the physical work, so the day starts early and ends when the job is done. Mornings often go to stock checks, feed runs, watering, fencing repairs and reading the weather. Mid-day is heavier on machinery: tractors, spray rigs, headers at harvest, or the truck and trailer running stock or grain. Afternoons swing back to animal health, calving or lambing checks, irrigation and yard work, then paperwork in the office after dinner for compliance, agronomy plans, livestock records, payroll and grants. The calendar is dictated by season: lambing, calving, shearing, sowing, spraying, harvest and weaning all stack into a few weeks each year and routinely run 12 to 16 hour days. Quieter months still mean stock work seven days a week. Most farms are in regional or remote areas, an hour or more from a major town, and a partner, manager or staff member usually needs to stay on-site whenever livestock are about.

Typical tasks

  • Plan crops and grazing rotations.
  • Operate and maintain plant.
  • Manage water, fencing and animal health.

Skills you'll use

  • Livestock husbandry across sheep, cattle or mixed enterprises
  • Operating and maintaining tractors, headers, sprayers and four-wheelers
  • Basic agronomy, soil and pasture management
  • Workplace health and safety on farm including chemicals and confined spaces
  • Business and cashflow management across volatile commodity prices
  • Reading weather, BoM rainfall outlooks and forward markets
  • Welding, fencing and general repairs to keep gear running
  • Record-keeping for biosecurity, traceability and tax

How to become one

  1. 1Finish Year 12 with Maths and a science or ag subject if your school offers it
  2. 2Get hands-on early through farm work, harvest jobs or a gap year on a station
  3. 3Complete a Certificate III in Agriculture, Wool or Production Horticulture at TAFE or through a registered training provider
  4. 4Stack a Certificate IV or Diploma of Agribusiness Management if you plan to manage or own the business side
  5. 5Consider a Bachelor of Agriculture, Agribusiness or Agricultural Science if you want senior management, agronomy or family-farm succession on a larger scale
  6. 6Build up a parcel of country through share-farming, leasing or family succession - very few farmers buy a first farm outright

Where you can work

  • Family-owned broadacre cropping and sheep properties across NSW, Victoria, WA and SA
  • Large pastoral cattle stations in Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley
  • Mixed-farming enterprises across the wheatbelt and Riverina
  • Dairy operations in Gippsland, northern Victoria, Tasmania and the NSW north coast
  • Corporate agribusinesses owned by superannuation funds or offshore investors
  • Indigenous-owned and community-managed pastoral leases
  • Share-farming and leasing arrangements where you run another owner's land

Career progression

Typical stages and salary bands. Salary figures are sourced from Job Outlook, QILT or industry bodies; brackets are 25th-75th percentile not absolute floors or ceilings.

  1. Farm hand
    0-3 years
    Typical roles: Station hand, Jackaroo or jillaroo, Cropping hand
    Salary band: $55,000 - $70,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  2. Overseer or leading hand
    3-7 years
    Typical roles: Overseer, Leading hand, Head stockperson
    Salary band: $70,000 - $95,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  3. Farm manager
    7-12 years
    Typical roles: Property manager, Station manager, Cropping manager
    Salary band: $95,000 - $140,000 per year (source, sourced 2026-05-21)
  4. Owner-operator or principal
    12+ years
    Typical roles: Owner-operator, Principal of family farm, Director of farming company

Is this for you?

You might love this if

  • You want to work outside with stock, weather and machinery as the main constants
  • You can handle long stretches in remote country away from city services
  • You're comfortable making call-outs alone and living with the consequences
  • You're handy enough to weld, fix fences and service plant without ringing a tradie every time
  • You can ride out a few bad seasons financially without losing your nerve
  • You enjoy planning a year out, not just a week

This might not suit you if

  • You want predictable hours and weekends off year-round
  • You're not okay with euthanising sick or injured animals when needed
  • You need to live in a major city or close to a beach
  • You expect a steady salary independent of seasons, prices and rainfall
  • You don't want to carry large business debt over decades

Three ways in

Uni, TAFE and trade routes for farmer. Not every career has all three; we only list pathways that actually lead to this occupation.

University

Bachelor degrees that lead to this career.

No direct undergraduate pathway. Consider postgraduate study after a related bachelor degree.

TAFE / VET

Nationally accredited Certificate and Diploma qualifications.

Apprenticeship trade

Earn while you learn through an Australian Apprenticeship.

Not an apprenticeship trade.

Sources

ExamExplained does not publish predictive salary figures. For current Australian earnings data check Job Outlook directly. Career classifications follow the ABS ANZSCO 2022 release.