Farm/Factory work wage

Vinzilla

Ok so im headin to thailand and south east asia for 2 months holiday in november, then back home for 6 months straight saving, hope to start college next september...ive read a few posts on travel forums about people making 1000 to 1500 australian a week for farm and factory work, (cotton picking etc)....if that was the case id much rather head to oz and do my saving there...so just wondering is this kind of wage a reality? id have to be making at least 600 euro a week to head over there really...im willing to work all hours, all days....so anyone made that kinda money there? anyone recommend a good place to work?

kautostar

Hi Yeah it's true I spent a year in Oz and 9 months of that was in agriculture/ on farms.

My tax return showed $39k which is what I earned on the farm in 9 months.

Some weeks we got $1,400, one time we got $1,700 in a week (€1,350) and that's take-home! Unreal money. (after deduction of 13%tax, $75rent and $25 use of car). This was mostly in the Northern territory. When we went down to New South Wales we earned less as the fruit wasn't as good and there were lots of rain days, we earned between $500 and $1000. Still huge money in comparison to home.

I worked for a big contractor and he had contracts all over Australia so got to work everywhere apart from Western Australia. We did Watermelons and got paid per ton, usually $25per ton. We would work in a 5 man team and pick at least 50 ton per day when the going was good. So 50x25 divided by the 5 men is $250 per day. If we didn't make contract i.e what we picked in the time we were out there was less than what the hourly rate would be then we got paid hourly which was $19.40, usually worked out around the $195 mark I think.

We worked 6am/5pm, 7am/6pm depending on how the day was going and how everybody was feeling. Sometimes we'd have to stop as it got too humid and everyone would feel like puking! Other days we would go as hard as we could to pump up the wage

You get super fit, work outside with ur mates all day, you are in it together so form a really good bond. Then drinks and fires at night, BBQ's. It's the toughest work I'll ever do but loved every minute of it, was the best year of my life.

I've also heard horror stories of course, it's just the luck of the draw.

The only real money is in Watermelons, Pumpkins, Picking Cotton.
No money in strawberries, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes or any of the other fruits really, but you might be able to rack up some long hours, if the pay is ok.
Majority of farmers on the backpacker trail seem to be out to get people, other farmers are the salt of the earth, biggest characters u could ever meet.

Best of luck if you try your hand at it

Vinzilla

Tnx for all the info...wow sounds great, im ragin now i havent been over there for the last year or that...workin nights here to make some extra money, its torture and end up payin a good fraction of my wages on necessities...
im kind of restricted because i have braces on and every 7 to 8 weeks id have to go and get them tightened, not the best timing i know, plus i go to the gym a good bit and would like to keep that up, so id probably have to be within an hour away from a big town.

so how do i go about getting a job? im fairly clueless when it comes to oz to be honest, i have lots of friends who did farm work there but only for the purpose of getting the second year visa, they werent too intersted in what money they were making.

I know of websites like harvest trail but theres so many jobs on there for all sorts of things, so its hard to know what you're walking into really...how did you end up working for the contractor kautostar? if you dont mind me asking

is it possible to sort out a job before i go or would i have to be there first... and do they take on many girls? as i might have a girl travelling with me

sorry about all the questions, its just hard to find anyone to ask who wasnt just in it for the second year visa

6ix

I'd be wary of the idea of working on a farm for the sole reason of making money/saving. I didn't have to do it, but I know a fair few who did. While they mostly had great experiences and were happy to get away from their usual line of work for a while, the money wasn't great at all - in some cases below minimum wage. Food and board was paid for so there was little in the way of expense but you certainly wouldn't be saving much.

Most farmers who take on WHV people are well aware of their desperation to get a 2nd year visa so those that choose to pay pittance can generally get away with it. Of course you could be lucky and get a decent crowd to work for like Kautostar above, which sounds like a pretty decent setup.

Most jobs in Oz would easily pay well more than €600 a week so maybe broaden your scope to other things too. Good luck!