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While stating “the image of dairy farming as a career is under the control of farmers”, management consultant Nollaig Heffernan pulled no punches when she said that at times the worst ambassadors for the industry are farmers.
Speaking at the Dairygold Dairy Day 2018 event at Corrin Mart, the Tipperary woman said: “The sector is killing itself with a poor image. Cruel hardship is not a badge of honour.”
Acknowledging that the dairy industry sells its product fantastically, she added there is work to be done on how to sell the image of working at farm level.
She advised attendees to start at home when it came to improving the image of the work life of a dairy farmer.
The biggest deal breaker in dairy is the lack of a finishing time
“Manage your time and make it look like a desirable career to your family first. That’s where a likely successor will come from.”
Time and management of it is one of the first areas she recommended looking at when deciding if an employee is required.
“Farming is predictable on a yearly basis but unpredictable on a daily basis.
“By improving time management within the farm gate and using options such as contractors or relief milkers there may not be a need for a full-time employee.”
Lapses in time management
From her experience of dealing with employment in the dairy industry, lapses in time management caused the most issues.
“The biggest deal breaker in dairy is the lack of a finishing time,” she said, adding that farmers should not have double standards with regards to time.
Citing the example of a farmer being unhappy when an employee is 10 minutes late, yet at the end of the day the same farmer would have no problem asking the employee to stay on for an extra 10 minutes.
All those minutes add up. Every 10 minutes extra an employee clocks in after the agreed time totals 48 hours across the year and that is viewed as a week’s work.
Stressing the importance of communication, she said: “You need to be able to articulate what you do. Otherwise people won’t know what you want done.”
In the event of an employee leaving she said it was important to conduct an exit interview and ask what you could did well and what you could do better.
Supplier survey
Seamus O’Mahony of Dairygold said the results of the co-ops supplier survey for 2017 revealed a requirement for an extra 530 labour units annually.
He added that in spring demand rises up to 800 labour units.
Other labour-related results from the survey showed that 51% of farmers are employing labour in the form of a contractor or part-time employee, with another 30% looking at contract rearing or outsourcing some labour in the future or improving their facilities.
Despite a small blip in milk supply due to storm Ophelia, there was an 8.3% increase in volume of milk supplied from 3.9% more cows in suppliers' herds.
He said one lesson learned following the storm was the need to have generators in place in the event of any other similar power outages.
The Dairygold event, Setting your Farm up for Success this Spring, also featured talks on calf rearing from John Newbold of Volac, optimising fertiliser use from Stan Lalor of Grassland Agro and an update on the UCD Lyons research farm from Karina Pierce.
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