KEY POINTS:
Farmers have lifted their game and are paying employees competitive rates compared with other sectors, says Federated Farmers president Charlie Pedersen.
A Federated Farmers and Rabobank report showed salaries grew by 5.23 per cent last year, while the total package value rose by 5.04 per cent - both higher than the five-year average increase.
Benefits in the total package included accommodation, power, phone, food, transport and bonuses.
Attracting and retaining quality employees was a growing challenge, Pedersen said.
"This report shows farmers have lifted their game in recent years and are offering employees a competitive rate in comparison to other industries," he said.
"It is particularly important for dairy employers that remuneration rates are based on responsibility rather than being fuelled by a high payout that enables, rather than requires, employers to pay more in the short term."
However, Amalgamated Workers Union New Zealand Southern Incorporated representative Lou Burns said farm workers were not well paid compared with other industries.
"I've got some people being employed as tractor drivers and things like that, and I tell you rates of pay are bloody wretched," Burns said.
It was a worry for the industry, he said.
"It's about time farmers woke up."
An Auckland Chamber of Commerce survey last year showed that a forklift operator had an average base salary of $31,400, with $47,961 for an office manager, $50,646 for a production supervisor and $102,974 for a chief executive.
Rabobank New Zealand general manager Ben Russell said the agricultural pay study showed a positive trend for employment in the sector.
"Employment costs are a significant component of farm expenditure, but good-quality employees are critical contributors to successful farm businesses," Russell said.
"It is important for farmers, and all employers, to get the balance right between containing wage cost growth, paying good people a competitive remuneration, and offering them the type of career development opportunities that will see them stay for longer."
* FARM PAY PACKAGE
Includes accommodation, food, transport and bonus.
$28,259 for 16-year-old trainees.
$37,536 for shepherds.
$57,728 for manager of a large sheep, beef, arable farm.
$70,529 for manager of a large dairy farm.
