A Pathway to Professional Farm Management and Beyond

The demands on people working in the primary sector are shifting quickly and staying ahead means continually developing your skills and experience. The suggested pathway below outlines how someone might progress toward becoming a professional drystock manager. Everyone’s starting point is different, so you can step in wherever matches your background and experience.

Education and Continuous Learning

Begin by studying agriculture at school, then consider tertiary study or a cadetship.  Commit to ongoing learning, there is always something new to be taught. Training and upskilling will always play a part in your career.

Why: A strong foundation helps you understand the science behind farming and gives you an early advantage when stepping into practical roles. Ongoing learning keeps your thinking current as systems and technology evolve.

Early Experience and Building Networks

Make the most of practical experience during weekends, holidays, and any opportunities that arise.

Why: Hands-on work builds confidence and skills quickly. The people you meet during this time often become future employers, referees, or mentors.

Develop Discipline and Find a Mentor

Establish strong personal habits early and find a mentor who can guide and encourage you. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone.

Why: Good habits help you operate reliably under pressure, and mentors help you avoid common mistakes, stay on track, and see opportunities you might otherwise miss.

Map Your Career Path

Have a sense of where you’d like to head but stay open to the twists and turns that come with gaining experience. Seek out workplaces you respect, as the people you work for reflect on you too.

Why: Setting a direction helps you choose roles that build toward your goals rather than drifting from job to job. Employers also value people with intent and purpose.

Land Your First Role

Aim for a first role working directly with an owner-operator if you prefer a one-on-one relationship or join a large operation where you are part of a team environment. There’s no right or wrong starting point.  Begin building your team of dogs, learn the full farm cycle, and focus on mastering the basics.

Why: Align yourself with a modern owner or manager who will provide hands-on coaching and involve you in some decision-making, speeding up your learning and understanding of full-system farming.

Broaden Your Experience

Once you’ve built your base skills, seek opportunities across a range of farming systems, including time in a stud environment if possible. Shifting between breeding and finishing systems and understanding genetics, EBVs, and stock selection deepens your capability and sharpens your decision-making.

Why: Exposure to different systems helps you understand the full range of drystock operations and makes you a much stronger job seeker for future management roles.

Identify Your Passion and Build Skills

By now, you’ll likely have discovered what part of the industry you enjoy most. Even if you’re still figuring that out, you’ll be collecting valuable skills along the way.

Why: Passion drives long-term success. Knowing what you enjoy helps you shape your career toward roles where you will thrive and excel.

Develop People and Leadership Skills

If your earlier roles didn’t involve leadership responsibilities, look for an opportunity to mentor or work closely with others.

Why: Most management roles involve leading people. Strong communication and leadership skills are often what separate good farmers from great managers on larger scale operations.

Demonstrate Production and System Thinking

Show that you can turn pasture and crops into meat and wool efficiently. Aim to work on a progressive farm where you can help set up rotations and gain experience with both summer and winter cropping. Continue building your understanding of feed value and system efficiency. Tools like Farmax (even the free Lite version) can help you build strong data-driven decision-making skills.

Why: This helps drive profitability. Understanding feed, rotations, and system efficiency shows you can drive real business results, not just complete tasks.

Strengthen Technical Capability

As responsibility grows, so should your technical ability. Become confident with weighing systems, EID tags, NAIT transfers, mapping, and emerging farm technologies. Stay curious.

Why: Modern farming relies heavily on technology for traceability, stock performance, planning, and business reporting. Strong technical capability future-proofs your career.

Refresh Your Mentorship and Networks

Update your mentor as your career progresses and the industry evolves.

Why: As you grow, you’ll need advice from people with experience at the level you’re aiming for. Networks also open doors to roles that never get publicly advertised.

Step Up Your Responsibility

When preparing for your first manager role (block, stock or farm manager), make sure your CV is polished, your referees are ready, and your networks are active. Aim for a position, perhaps on a 300–700 ha property, where you can put your skills into practice while still benefiting from support or oversight.

Why: This gives you the chance to apply your skills, refine your decision-making, and develop your own management style while still having guidance in the background. Planning is essential.

Become a Professional Farm Manager

By now, you’ll hopefully have deep experience across stock, genetics, pastures, cropping, technology, and people management. You may choose to move into a larger-scale operation or step into a more autonomous farm management role,

While the day-to-day work may feel the same, this major step in your career carries the added responsibility of the farm’s performance and profitability. Now you’re operating as a professional farm manager, and others may start seeking you out as their mentor.

The primary industry offers so many amazing career pathways. At Rural Directions we are always placing people into General Manager, Livestock Manager, Operations Manager, or Livestock Business Manager roles. As our industry evolves so too do the opportunities.

Why: You now carry responsibility not just for stock and land, but for profit. Strategic thinking, business planning, and leadership become central to your role.

 

Trust your experience and the process. Think like an owner because one day you may be one. You’ll work more closely on business strategy, understand how operational decisions drive profit, and often report to owners or boards, sometimes even online with people across New Zealand or overseas.

If you’d like to talk more about this pathway or the value of mentorship, get in touch with Rural Directions.