Dairy Cattle Farmer

Job titles this occupation covers

If your job title is one of these, this is usually the code it belongs to, whatever your employer calls the role.

• Dairy Cattle Farm Manager

Specialisations within it

• Share Dairy Farmer (Aus) / Sharemilker (NZ)
• Stud Dairy Cattle Farmer

Duties

Published for unit group 1213 Livestock Farmers

• breeding and raising livestock for the production of honey, meat, milk, skins, eggs and wool
• monitoring and maintaining the health and condition of livestock
• providing pastures and fodder to maintain appropriate nutritional levels
• moving livestock to optimise feeding opportunities
• organising and conducting farming operations such as catching, drenching and milking livestock, sterilising machines, and collecting, grading and packaging produce
• directing and overseeing general farming activities such as maintaining pens, sheds and cages, fertilising, controlling pests and weeds, and growing fodder
• maintaining fences, equipment and water supply systems
• organising the sale, purchase and transportation of livestock and produce
• maintaining and evaluating records of farming activities, monitoring market activity and planning production accordingly
• managing business capital including budgeting, taxation, debt and loan management
• may select, train and supervise staff and contractors

This is what the occupation is, not what a skills assessment requires. The assessing body applies its own criteria on top of this, and those criteria are not published here. Check them with the body itself.

Who assesses this occupation

Last confirmed against the department's list on 30 July 2026.

This occupation reads differently for the 186 and 482

Two editions of ANZSCO are current at once, and the department applies ANZSCO 2022 to the employer sponsored visas while everything above follows ANZSCO 2013.

Under the 2022 edition this occupation is defined as:

Plans, organises, controls, coordinates and performs farming operations to breed and raise dairy cattle for milk, meat and breeding stock. Dairy Herd Managers are excluded from this occupation. Dairy Herd Managers are included in Occupation 363213 Senior Dairy Cattle Farm Worker.

Its duties are also published differently:

• breeding and raising livestock for the production of honey, meat, milk, skins, eggs and wool
• overseeing and undertaking breeding, feeding and nutrition programs
• monitoring and maintaining the health, welfare and condition of livestock, including developing and overseeing strategies to manage biosecurity and other risks
• providing water, and providing and growing pastures and fodder crops to maintain livestock health and condition
• organising farming operations and routines such as catching, drenching and milking livestock, sterilising machines, and collecting, grading and packaging produce
• directing and overseeing general farming activities including the provision and maintenance of infrastructure such as fences, sheds, pens, water supply systems and irrigation infrastructure
• organising the sale, purchase and transportation of livestock and produce
• maintaining and evaluating records of farming activities, monitoring market activity and planning production accordingly
• overseeing data collection and analysis and farm technology systems
• managing business capital including budgeting, taxation, debt and loan management
• may select, train and supervise staff and contractors

If you are going for a 186 or a 482, this is the wording that governs you. Everything above governs the points tested routes.

Where this comes from

Definition and duties: Australian Bureau of Statistics, ANZSCO
Assessing authorities and skilled lists: Department of Home Affairs skilled occupation list

Vizard is not a registered migration agent and nothing here is migration advice. It is published government information, organised. For advice on your own situation, speak to a registered migration agent.