Last updated: 21 March 2024

Sheep, Beef, Deer and Wool farming Labour Market Dynamics

 Industry dataset (economic indicators and labour market dynamics)  

Source: Linked Employer-Employee Data, Stats NZ¹

Linked Employer-Employee Data (LEED) data is produced by Stats New Zealand quarterly to measure labour market dynamics. There is a lag in data availability of around 14 months due to the time it takes for the data to be completed by employers, to flow through Inland Revenue, and for Stats NZ to undertake relevant transformations and quality checks². Here, we show the most recent data available at the time of publishing.

LEED data is available at the ANZSIC ‘group’ level, which is a broader level of classification than the ANZSIC class codes used for the workforce estimates. The relevant ANZSIC groups here are 014 Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming³ and 018 Deer Farming⁴.

The Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming group includes 0141 Sheep Farming (Specialised), 0142 Beef Cattle Farming (Specialised), 0143 Beef Cattle Feedlots (Specialised), 0144 Sheep-Beef Cattle Farming, 0145 Grain-Sheep or Grain-Beef Cattle Farming, 0146 Rice Growing, 0149 Other Grain Growing; while the Deer Farming group includes businesses that engage in activities such as deer breeding, deer farming for venison, and deer velvet production.

Median Earnings

The median quarterly earnings for the Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming industries were consistently similar to the average across ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ more broadly, but has increased relative to this benchmark across 2021 and 2022. For the Deer Farming industry, median quarterly earnings have remained similar to that across the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ industries.

In the chart, we provide two benchmarks for reference: 'agriculture, forestry and fishing' which covers all industries involved in growing crops, raising animals, growing and harvesting timber, and harvesting fish and other animals from farms or their natural habitats, and a benchmark for 'all industries’ which includes every industry group in New Zealand.

Quarterly Turnover Rate

The quarterly worker turnover rate for Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming industries has remained similar to the ‘agriculture, forestry and fishing’ industries more broadly, with both showing a downward trend in worker turnover from the start of 2020 onwards. The worker turnover rate for Deer Farming is lower than for Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming and despite fluctuations has remained more consistent over time.

In the chart, we provide two benchmarks for reference: 'agriculture, forestry and fishing' which covers all industries involved in growing crops, raising animals, growing and harvesting timber, and harvesting fish and other animals from farms or their natural habitats, and a benchmark for 'all industries' which includes every industry group in New Zealand.

Number of Filled Jobs

The number of filled jobs is an indicator of economic activity. The total number of filled jobs in the Sheep, Beef Cattle and Grain Farming industries has remained stable allowing for fluctuations based on seasonal cycles. The total number of filled jobs in the Deer industry remained at around 500 between 2015 and early 2021 but has declined thereafter.