NZ Seasonal Work Calendar: What's Hiring When

Last updated: 11 July 2026

New Zealand’s seasonal work follows the crops, and the crops follow the seasons — southern hemisphere seasons, so summer runs December to February. Time your travel to the harvest and you’ll rarely be short of work; arrive in the wrong region in the wrong month and you’ll burn savings waiting.

Exact start dates shift a few weeks each year with the weather, so treat the months below as a reliable pattern rather than a promise. When you’re ready to look for work, check current listings and the employer map to see what’s active in each region — or start from the region-by-region guides for local timing, employers and reviews in one place.

Summer (December – February)

Cherries and stonefruit — Central Otago. Cromwell, Alexandra and Roxburgh are the heart of it. Cherry picking peaks from late December through January, one of the best-paid piece-rate windows of the year for fast pickers. Apricots, nectarines and peaches run alongside.
Berries — Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Nelson–Tasman. Strawberries start before Christmas; blueberries and raspberries carry through summer.
Hospitality — everywhere tourists go. Queenstown, Wanaka, Rotorua, Taupō and the coasts hire hard for the summer rush. Not farm work, but it fills the gaps between harvests.

Autumn (March – May)

Kiwifruit — Bay of Plenty. Te Puke is the kiwifruit capital of the world, with Katikati, Ōpōtiki and Gisborne close behind. Picking and packhouse work runs roughly March to June. Packhouses suit people who’d rather have steady hourly pay than piece rates.
Apples — Hawke’s Bay and Nelson–Tasman. Picking peaks February to April, with thinning and packing either side of it.
Grape vintage — Marlborough, Central Otago, Hawke’s Bay. The wine harvest runs roughly February to April. Wineries also want cellar hands — long hours, good pay, and it ends as suddenly as it starts.
Kūmara — Northland. Dargaville’s kūmara harvest runs through autumn. Muddy, honest work — it’s where Farmdoor’s founders met.

Winter (June – August)

Ski fields — Queenstown, Wanaka, Ruapehu. Lifties, rentals, café and lodge staff. Hiring happens March–May, well before the snow — apply early.
Citrus — Gisborne and Northland. Mandarins, oranges and lemons pick through winter.
Pruning — everywhere there are vines or trees. Vineyard and orchard pruning is the quiet season’s steady earner. Colder and slower than harvest, but consistent.
Dairy calving — Waikato, Canterbury, Southland. Calving from about July needs extra hands. Physically demanding and often includes accommodation.

Spring (September – November)

Kiwifruit thinning and vine work — Bay of Plenty. The orchards that hired pickers in autumn need bud thinning and canopy work in spring.
Asparagus — Waikato, Horowhenua, Canterbury. September to December, every morning, rain or shine.
Planting and general farm work. Market gardens and orchards gear up for summer; shearing sheds get busy across the south.

Reading the calendar like a local

Follow the fruit south. Many travellers chain kiwifruit (autumn, north) into winter pruning into cherries (summer, south) and barely stop working.
Arrive one to two weeks before peak. Early arrivals get the jobs and the good beds. Mid-peak arrivals compete with everyone else who read the same advice.
Piece rate versus hourly matters. Piece rates reward speed, but your earnings must still average at least the minimum wage for the hours you actually work — see our guide to your work rights.
Check the employer before you commit. A season is a long time in a bad camp. Read reviews from other travellers first, and leave your own when you finish — it’s how the next person avoids what you didn’t.

Guides cover the general rules — your situation is your own. For official, current details always check the government links above, and see our resources page for who to contact when something isn’t right. And before you accept a job, check what other travellers said about the employer on Farmdoor’s employer reviews.