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Useful experience for agricultural/horticultural consultants includes:

• work on farms or orchards
• sales, marketing or other work dealing with customers or clients
• work within the agribusiness sector
• work in an agricultural or horticultural research institution or laboratory.

Agricultural/horticultural consultants may do some or all of the following:

• advise farmers and growers on how to improve the profitability, efficiency and sustainability of farm management systems
• assist farmers and growers in developing and implementing business plans
• advise on or oversee budgets, cashflow and production targets for clients
• research and report on factors that affect crop production, pasture growth, and animal breeding
• advise farmers and growers on fertiliser and nutrient use to improve productivity and environmental performance 
• investigate, plan and advise on methods for coping with the effects of pests and diseases and natural disasters such as floods
• provide advice on compliance with current legislation such as the Resource Management Act
• prepare property and environmental management reports for clients.

Shortage of agricultural/horticultural consultants

Chances of getting a job as an agricultural/horticultural consultant are good due to:

• growth in the agricultural and horticultural sectors
• more consultants being required to service clients because of growth and change within the sectors
• a shortage of skilled workers
• increased vacancies because of retirement and promotion.

Demand is likely to increase as farming and orchard systems become more sophisticated and farmers will need independent expert advice from agricultural/horticultural consultants.   

According to the Census, 999 agricultural consultants worked in New Zealand in 2018. Over 1200 environmental consultants were also employed for the same period, although many of them work outside of the agricultural and horticultural sectors.

Global trends influencing demand for specialist consultants

In the future, jobs in the agricultural and horticultural sectors will be more specialised than before. Reasons for this include:

• emerging, sophisticated technologies
• a growing market in Asia for products
• critical issues around food safety, biosecurity, sustainability, the environment and animal welfare.

Therefore, there is high demand for skilled consultants who can provide independent, qualified advice and analysis in these specialist areas:

• nutrient budgeting and planning
• farm and orchard environmental plans
• resource consent applications
• water quality monitoring and laboratory testing
• wastewater and effluent testing and application modelling
• geographic information system (GIS) mapping.

Types of employers varied

Agricultural/horticultural consultants can work for a range of organisations, including:

• agricultural and/or horticultural consultancy firms
• government agencies such as Pamu (Landcorp)
• iwi and Māori farming businesses
• large businesses that own, manage or lease orchards or farms
• rural servicing firms and fertiliser or dairy companies
• specialist agricultural companies such as those involved in animal breeding or research.

Many agricultural/horticultural consultants are self-employed.

Primary Industry Training Organisation

0800 208020 - info@primaryito.ac.nz - www.primaryito.ac.nz

Agricultural/horticultural consultants who work for companies may progress to supervisory or management roles, or start their own consultancy business.

Most agricultural/horticultural consultants specialise in one area. For example, agricultural consultants can specialise in dairy, sheep or beef farming, and horticultural consultants in a particular fruit or vegetable crop. However, consultants are increasingly working across both sectors, specialising in areas such as:

• environmental planning
• irrigation and water quality management
• infrastructure planning and management
• financial and insurance management
• legislative advice about resource management and consent
• strategic business planning, budgeting and financial reporting.

With more experience and training, agricultural/horticultural consultants may become agricultural/horticultural or environmental scientists, financial advisers, management consultants, farmers/farm managers or orchard farmers/managers.

• Agricultural/horticultural scientist job information
• Crop farmer/manager job information
• Environmental scientist job information
• Farmer/farm manager job information
• Financial adviser job information
• Management consultant job information
• Orchard farmer/manager job information

Agricultural/horticultural consultants need to be:

• able to build and maintain relationships with a wide range of people
• good communicators, with listening and public speaking skills
• hard-working, friendly, patient and able to inspire confidence
• good negotiators
• skilled in analysis and decision making
• skilled in planning, organising and problem solving
• able to work under pressure with good time management skills.