Wage labour is important in livestock farming in Amazonia, as in other regions. It is increasing, and agricultural production systems that were hitherto family-based are increasingly turning to it. Few studies have been carried out on wage labour in livestock farming. Yet it impacts on both the operation and reproduction of livestock farms, and the territorial dynamics in which they interfered. The issue we address here is that of the place of different patterns of wage labour (the term covers indeed several distinct situations) in the sustainability of livestock farming and territorial dynamics. To this end we analysed the different types of wage labour in Brazilian Amazonia and compared them with those found in other regions of the world. These patterns refer to different forms of mobility that underpin territorial adjustments of work groups and livestock farming activities.