Livestock Farmers

Livestock farmers manage the breeding, feeding, and welfare of cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry or other animals on commercial farms across Australia. They oversee daily animal husbandry, veterinary health programmes, feed production, and grazing management while making business decisions about herd composition, production targets, and farm operations. This role combines animal management expertise with farm business acumen and regulatory compliance across biosecurity, animal welfare, and environmental standards.

Monitor animal health and behaviour daily, identifying signs of illness or injury and arranging veterinary treatment or making culling decisions. Plan and implement breeding programmes to meet production targets, genetic improvement goals, and market demand. Manage pasture rotation, grazing schedules, and feed allocation to optimise animal nutrition and paddock sustainability. Prepare and lodge biosecurity documentation, animal movement permits, and livestock identification records with state agricultural authorities. Maintain compliance with animal welfare standards set by state regulators and industry codes of practice. Source, purchase and manage feed supplies, including grains, hay, supplements, and medications. Record production data including weight gains, reproductive performance, milk yields, or egg production for herd management and benchmarking. Supervise farm staff in animal handling, feeding, mustering, drenching, vaccinating and other husbandry tasks.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

You'll work seven days a week during peak seasons with no ability to call in sick: animals need feeding and care regardless. Income is highly volatile, tied to commodity prices and weather you can't control. Most farms operate on tight margins, so switching careers means you're gambling significant capital and years before knowing if you'll break even.

Practically speaking, work exists only where land and water support grazing or intensive animal production. Remote work is not possible.

• Adaptability and Flexibilitycore
• Administer drugs to facilitate breedingcore
• Administer treatment to animalscore
• Basic Arithmetic and Numerical Accuracycore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Inventory Trackingcore
• Negotiationcore
• Problem Solvingcore
• Record Managementcore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Supplier Communicationcore
• Time Management and Prioritisationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Workload Self-Managementcore
• Advise on animal purchase
• Advise on animal welfare
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Data Entry and Accuracy
• Digital Literacy
• Invoicing and Billing Administration
• Process Improvement Identification
• Research and Analysis
• Stock Counting and Stocktake
• Team Collaboration
• Written Communication

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

Last updated: 30 October 2026