Farm Work in the UK: Jobs, Seasons, Pay and How to Find It

Farm work in the UK goes well beyond fruit picking. Here are the main types of farm job, when the seasonal and summer work is, how to find it, the minimum pay rates from April 2026, what to check about accommodation and the Seasonal Worker visa for overseas workers.

By Tony Musso on Wed Oct 21 2026

Farm work in the UK covers far more than fruit picking. Farms need people to milk cows, help at lambing, drive tractors, grade potatoes, pack salad and keep machinery running. Some of that work goes on all year, and some comes in short, busy seasons. Whether you want summer work, a first job outdoors or a route into a farming career, this guide explains the main types of farm job, when the work is, how to find it, what you should be paid and what to check about accommodation. There is also a section for people coming from overseas.

Types of farm work

Seasonal picking and harvesting

Picking soft fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and cherries, top fruit such as apples and pears, vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, lettuce and potatoes, and flowers. The work is physical: bending or reaching for long periods, outdoors in heat or rain, or under polytunnels. Some growers pay by the hour, some by piece rate (per punnet, tray or kilo) and some use a mix.

Packing and grading

Packhouses on or near farms wash, grade, weigh and pack produce, much of it for supermarkets. The work is indoors, often in shifts, standing at a line. Packhouse jobs can last longer than the picking season, because stored crops such as potatoes, onions and apples are packed through the winter.

Livestock

Sheep, beef cattle, pigs and poultry. Daily tasks include feeding, bedding, checking animals for illness or injury, moving stock and keeping records. Lambing is one of the best-known ways into farm work: many sheep farms take on extra hands for a few intense weeks in late winter and spring, and it is hard to find a better crash course in looking after animals.

Dairy

Dairy cows are milked at least twice a day, every day of the year, so dairy jobs are year-round, with early starts and weekend rotas. Dairy assistants and herdspersons milk, feed, rear calves, spot health and fertility problems and keep records. More farms now use robotic milking, which shifts the work towards monitoring data and the herd's health. Because it is skilled, all-year work, dairy is a common first step into a longer farming career.

Tractor driving and machinery

Arable farms need drivers for cultivating, drilling, spraying, carting grain at harvest and baling, and agricultural contractors hire drivers for silage and harvest too. Experience counts for a lot, and employers want people who are safe and careful around big machines. A few things to know:

• To drive a tractor on a public road you need category F on your driving licence. A full car licence includes it.
• Telehandlers, quad bikes (ATVs) and chainsaws need proper training. Land-based colleges and training providers run short courses, often through Lantra or City & Guilds (NPTC) awards.
• Using pesticides as part of your job requires a certificate of competence, usually the PA1 foundation module plus the module for the sprayer you will use.

Other farm jobs

General farm hands, fencing and hedging, poultry work, Christmas tree and turkey work in late autumn, and summer jobs at farm shops, pick-your-own farms and farm attractions.

When the work is: a seasonal guide

Seasons shift with the weather and the region, and growing under cover stretches them, so treat this as a rough guide rather than a timetable.

Dairy, pig, poultry and most packhouse jobs run all year.

Looking for summer work in the UK? June to September is when farms are busiest. Soft fruit and vegetable growers, harvest contractors, pick-your-own farms and farm shops all take on extra people, and some offer accommodation on site. Students should apply in late winter or early spring, because the best summer places fill early. For other flexible work, see our guide to part-time jobs in the UK.

How to find farm work

• Ask farms directly. Many smaller farms never advertise. A short, polite email or phone call, or a visit to a farm shop or pick-your-own farm, works more often than people expect. Ask a few weeks before the season you are interested in.
• Farming job boards and the farming press, which list both permanent and seasonal vacancies.
• Find a job, the government's free job site on GOV.UK.
• Land-based colleges, which often know local farms that need help and run the short machinery courses employers ask for.
• Young Farmers' Clubs, a good way for young people to meet farmers, learn skills and hear about jobs.
• Agricultural shows and livestock markets, where you can talk to farmers face to face.
• Labour providers. Many large growers and packhouses recruit through agencies. Anyone supplying workers for agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering or the processing and packing of that produce must be licensed by the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). Check a provider on the GLAA's public register before you sign up.

Never pay anyone for the promise of a farm job, and walk away from anyone who wants to keep your passport or bank card. If something feels wrong, you can report it to the GLAA or the Modern Slavery and Exploitation Helpline.

Farm employers care most about reliability, fitness and a willingness to work early starts in all weathers. A simple CV that lists any outdoor, physical or animal work, including volunteering and helping on a family farm, is enough. CV Studio will build one in a few minutes.

Pay

Farm workers in England are covered by the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, the same as any other worker. The legal minimum rates from 1 April 2026 are:

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have their own agricultural wages rules, which set minimum rates and some terms such as holiday for farm workers. The minimum wage still applies there too, so check the current rules for the nation you work in.

Piece rates are legal, but the minimum wage rules still apply to piece work. Keep your own note of the hours you work and what you pick or pack, and check every payslip against it.

Longer term, farm work pays more as you gain skills and responsibility. In our career data, farm workers earn around £24,000 to £28,000 a year, farm managers £30,000 to £45,000, and owners or managers of large estates £50,000 to £100,000 or more, though income for farm owners depends heavily on the weather and markets.

Accommodation

Many seasonal jobs come with somewhere to live, such as a caravan, static home, shared house or bunkhouse on the farm. Before you accept, ask:

• What it costs, and whether the cost is taken from your wages.
• What is included: bills, wifi, kitchen, laundry and bedding.
• How many people share each room and each bathroom.
• How you get to the fields or packhouse, and to the nearest shops.

The minimum wage rules limit how much accommodation an employer can count against your minimum wage pay. This is called the accommodation offset, a capped daily amount that the government sets each April; check GOV.UK for the current figure. Charges above it can take your pay below the legal minimum.

Some permanent livestock and dairy jobs come with a house. That can be a real help, but the house is usually tied to the job, so if you leave the job you leave the house too.

Whatever the job, take waterproofs, sturdy boots and sun cream. Your employer should provide any protective equipment the work requires.

Coming from overseas: the Seasonal Worker visa

If you already have the right to work in the UK, for example as a British or Irish citizen, with settled or pre-settled status, or on a visa that allows work, you can do farm work like any other job. Our guide to the right to work in the UK explains how employers check it.

If you don't, you cannot simply arrive and look for farm work. The route for most seasonal farm work is the Seasonal Worker visa, which covers work in horticulture, such as picking fruit, vegetables and flowers, and in poultry. What you need to know:

• You need a sponsor. Seasonal workers are sponsored by licensed scheme operators approved by the Home Office, who place workers with farms. You apply through one of them.
• It is temporary. You can only stay for a limited time and do the work you are sponsored for. How long you can stay, the dates for poultry work, the costs and the other conditions are set out on GOV.UK, and they can change, so check the official guidance before you commit to anything.
• Be careful who you deal with. Use the official GOV.UK guidance to find approved scheme operators, and be wary of any agent who asks for money to get you a place.

Because the visa only covers the work you are sponsored for, dairy and other livestock jobs outside poultry are not part of it. For other routes into UK work, see our guide to jobs in the UK for foreigners.

From seasonal work to a farming career

A summer on a fruit farm or a lambing season is a common first step into farming. If you enjoy it, the usual route is:

1. Get more practical experience, such as a full season, weekend work or relief milking.
2. Take a Level 2 or Level 3 agriculture course or an apprenticeship at a land-based college, covering livestock, crops and machinery.
3. Add machinery and safety training, such as tractor and telehandler courses and pesticide certificates.
4. Move up to herdsperson, tractor driver or unit manager, then farm manager, learning budgets, records and the farm support schemes in your part of the UK.

Our farmer career guide sets out the routes in, including tenancies and share farming if you want your own farm one day. If outdoor work appeals but farming is not quite right, look at gardener and forestry worker careers too.

Not sure farming is the right fit? Career Compass matches your interests and strengths to UK careers, including outdoor and hands-on work, with pay and routes in for each.

Take Career Compass

Unsure whether this path fits you? A career quiz gives you a type; a proper assessment gives you reasons and routes.