Figures show the farm is New Zealand's deadliest workplace, days after a 74-year-old man died in a quad bike accident on the East Coast.
Provisional statistics released by the Department of Labour on Tuesday show of the 41 workplace deaths it investigated last year 15 happened on a farm.
"This illustrates just how important it is to improve safety on farms across the country - agriculture is an important sector to New Zealand, and farmers, their workers, and the industry cannot afford to ignore health and safety," deputy chief executive Lesley Haines said.
East Coast golf identity Peter Rouse died on Saturday after his bike rolled down a bank at a Tokomaru Bay farm.
Of the 15 deaths on farms last year three involved quad bikes and tractor accidents claimed another three lives.
"Improving safety in agriculture is a key focus for the department - the majority of deaths on farms involved vehicles or machinery and this is why we have a three-year quad bike safety campaign under way," Ms Haines says.
In 2010, 77 people were killed in workplace accidents covered by the department with the 29 deaths at the Pike River mine causing a spike in the figures.
Fatalities in the maritime or aviation sectors or work-related road crashes are not included in the statistics as they are investigated by other organisations.
There were 6087 serious harm incidents reported to the department in 2011.
Ms Haines says the department is committed to reducing deaths at work and will shortly release a plan for the manufacturing industry with a drive on guards on machines.
Leading workplace fatalities 2011:
Agriculture 15
Transport, Postal and Warehousing 5
Construction 4
Forestry 3
Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services 3
Manufacturing 3.
NZN