This is a subscriber-only article
Contractors are using every tool available to them, from pay hikes to international contacts, in their search for new workers. As reported in the Irish Farmers Journal last week, there is a severe shortage of tractor drivers for the 2019 silage season.
Contractors say they are struggling to get seasonal skilled machinery operators within Ireland and even within Europe.
The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) is now looking to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa as potential sources of skilled drivers.
Contractors who spent time in New Zealand are starting to use the contacts they made while abroad to source highly trained tractor drivers to work at home in Ireland.
One Cork-based contractor told the Irish Farmers Journal that he has employed a New Zealand driver for the past three silage seasons and expects to this to increase in future.
Contractors say the sudden increase in farm output in recent years has resulted in a direct strain on the contracting industry. Farmers are becoming more reliant on contractors as farm output increases but some contractors are struggling to find people to operate their expanding fleet of tractors.
Pay increase
Michael Barrett, based in Newcastlewest, Co Limerick, has increased his tractor drivers' pay by €3-€4 per hour in recent years. He told the Irish Farmers Journal that there are fewer people interested in working the silage season, with many turning their attention to plant hire instead.
Barrett noted that some of the Irish tractor drivers have travelled abroad and are no longer available for the Irish silage season. While he has not yet employed a non-Irish driver, he feels this will change.
Cost of regulations
Anne Hanrahan from Birr, Co Offaly, said: “Increasing costs and regulations imposed on contactors has created difficulty for the industry.”
She feels some of the drivers from non-EU countries have the necessary qualifications for the machinery but may lack the ability to operate in some of the challenging conditions the Irish silage season presents.
Alfie Byrne, a general farm contractor based in Kildavin, Co Carlow, said he was “lucky with labour as the lads working for me are local”.
SHARING OPTIONS: