To work with farmers in improving their decision-making and financial situation it is important to have information about the on-farm help used in making farm decisions, as well as the off-farm help which farmers use. To understand the situation better, a nationwide survey was conducted over the latter half of 2013. Starting in June, survey schedules were mailed to over 2,000 randomly selected farmers throughout New Zealand. Over 800 satisfactory replies were received giving a response rate of 36.1 per cent.