Dry stock farmers' salaries have grown strongly in the past year, according to Federated Farmers and Rabobank's 2015-16 employee remuneration report.
Despite tough times and low inflation, most sheep, beef and grain farmers have provided higher average salaries.
Salaries in the dairy industry remained stable but there has been a small decrease in the value of extras farmers provide their staff, such as firewood and internet access, pushing the total value of their package down.
Federated Farmers dairy industry group chairman Andrew Hoggard said that could reflect the industry's emphasis on ensuring that salaries matched staff skill levels and extras were not used to plug shortfalls.
The report also showed the message on compliance was getting through to dairy farmers, with the number of employment agreements and recorded hours on the rise.
