There's more to the primary sector than grassroots farming, and a new report shows a bumper harvest of jobs is on the horizon.

MBIE's Occupation Outlook 2015 ranks job prospects for agricultural scientists, farmers, and other land-based careers very highly.

Jeremy Baker is Lincoln University's deputy vice-chancellor of business development.

He says there are misconceptions that working in agriculture simply means being a farmer.

"Of course, that's a really important part of the sector, but only about 100,000 out of the 350,000 that work in the sector actually work on the land."

Baker says a broad range of services are in demand.

"The primary sector is really the driving force of the New Zealand economy and there are really significant demands, particularly at increasing the higher skill levels."

Jeremy Baker says the insatiable global demand for food and fibre is driving this demand for workers in the sector.

He adds there are jobs available for everyone - from biologists and chemists through to business degree graduates.