Navigating Sheep and Beef Manager Retention

A Challenge for the NZ Sheep and Beef Industry: Retaining Skilled Farm Managers

Attracting and retaining skilled sheep and beef farm managers is a critical challenge for New Zealand farm owners. Despite high demand, many experienced managers are leaving the sector, driven not only by better pay elsewhere but also by limited ownership opportunities, unclear career progression and unsupportive workplace dynamics.

Through an interview process conducted with farm owners, current farm managers and former farm managers that have left the industry, this report investigates the core retention issues, focusing on the difficulty of farm ownership, misaligned employer-employee expectations and the need to understand current farm manager motivations. While there are several themes obtained from these interviews, three main and interconnected themes were sighted:

1. It is clear from the interviews that participants believe wages in sheep and beef management are lower than in other industries, making it hard for managers to build savings and secure their financial future. This, combined with a lack of clear career progression, inconsistent job titles and pay expectations, contribute to discontent.
2. Workplace dynamics significantly impact job satisfaction. The demanding nature of farming often leads to a poor work-life balance, with long and often inflexible hours being a major source of frustration for the majority of managers, especially those with families. A positive work environment, built on trust, clear communication and feeling valued, is crucial. The absence of this was a key reason former managers left.
3. The sharp rise in land price makes traditional farm ownership almost impossible for new entrants. While alternative equity models are proposed, they often lack clear, repeatable structures and have been met with scepticism in the sheep and beef sector, unlike in dairy.

Despite these challenges, a successful case study demonstrates that separating land ownership from the farm’s operating business can create viable equity partnerships, allowing managers to buy into the operating business directly. Crucially it addresses the entry and exit concerns around fluctuating livestock prices, the livestock buy-in prices are set at market value but the exit prices are set using the previous five-year average, reducing the risk of one of the partners strategically exiting when prices are high.

To address these issues within the sheep and beef sector, this report recommends that farm owners proactively invest time into their staff, understand their goals and help improve financial literacy, while planning for succession with innovative equity partnership models. Additionally, understand the benefits of workforce stability, as it reduces the significant costs associated with high staff turnover.

Farm managers should more clearly communicate their aspirations to farm owners and financial lenders, seek roles with clear progression, prioritise work-life balance and strategically build personal wealth.

Finally, the industry must establish clearer employment standards (like defined job titles and pay scales), as well as actively promoting well-structured equity partnerships. Consideration should be given by government to support equity partnerships through government-backed loan guarantees or tax incentives. Implementing these changes is vital for ensuring a stable and rewarding future for the managers within New Zealand’s sheep and beef sector.