The minister's responsibilities include protecting and promoting the productivity, sustainability and export performance of New Zealand's agricultural sector.

[2] They are also the lead minister for the Ministry for Primary Industries, which is the government department that provides support to the portfolio.

John McKenzie established the Department of Agriculture on 31 March 1892,[3][4] and the first minister, George Richardson, was appointed on 17 October 1889.

[7] In the Shipley minority government, the position was disestablished and replaced with the new role of Minister of Food, Fibre, Biosecurity and Border Control, which consolidated ministerial responsibility for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Fisheries, Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Customs Service.

[8] In the second and third terms of the Fifth National Government, the portfolio was again disestablished and merged into the larger position of Minister for Primary Industries.