Farmer writes: managing people in New Zealand

The vast majority of New Zealand dairy farms employ staff in varying roles and structures. Whether it is a share-milking agreement, contract milking, equity partnership or an owner-operated system, every system, due to its scale, has a team of people vital to its success.

The farm that I am working on has a team of six people – four full-time workers (including myself and the owner) and two part-time labour units who rear the calves and relief milk on occasion.

The roster is a great tool in clarifying what is expected of us as a team on a weekly basis. We know who is getting cows in, who is milking which herd, who checks calving cows, etc, and there is no confusion. We all have our responsibilities and we all know the procedures to follow in each case.

We meet each morning after breakfast to discuss what has to be done during the day – the 10-minute meeting easily saves hours of unnecessary confusion and mistakes over the day, as everyone is crystal clear on what has to be done and what is expected.

It is relatively common for farms to hold regular reviews of farm performance and management, as staff on many farms meet weekly, fortnightly or monthly to discuss this and any other issues that have arisen.

On the farm I’m on, the farm owner leads this meeting because he is also the farm manager, but on other farms where the farm owner is not hands-on, the farm manager or share milker will head up this meeting.

Feedback is valued from all staff, with time always made to hear an idea or suggestion

Day-to-day communication in relation to management decisions is circulated via email to staff on many farms, with WhatsApp groups among staff common out here also. Feedback is valued from all staff, with time always made to hear an idea or suggestion that could improve the system overall.

Within two weeks of my arrival, I was comfortable in all aspects of my expected workload, as the simplicity of the system and good instructions from fellow staff allowed my integration to be almost seamless. Systems are kept simple, work routines are standardised as much as possible and all staff are familiar with the overall objectives of the farm business.

In general, things have run relatively smoothly, but that is a result of the system and management. Recently, due to one staff member taking paternity leave and another sick leave, it was down to two of us and one calf rearer to run the farm for the week. This happened towards the end of calving. It was far from idle, but we still finished the same time each evening as a result of working a lot smarter and choosing our battles wisely.

Essential work was carried out, but anything unnecessary was postponed, as there was no point in exhausting ourselves. At the time, I thought we could easily have seen to the extra jobs that could have been done, but, in hindsight, I’m beginning to realise that the workload has to be sustainable and repeatable – not flat-out for days on end, turning up to work tired and making poor decisions as a result then.

It is apparent here that career progression routes and farm structures, such as share-milking, etc, allows staff to have their own personal goals, which clearly motivates them on a day-to-day basis.

Staff remaining on the same farm for long periods is relatively uncommon. If they do so, it’s due to career progression options being made available on that farm that align with their own long-term aspirations.

From meeting staff on various farms, and many farm owners, it’s clear that there is a bigger picture than just the day-to-day routine of farm work.

Whether a dairy assistant aspires to be a manager or a young couple working on the farm have ambitions to become contract milkers or a farm owner aims to grow his business to allow him or her to step back from the day-to-day workload and pursue other avenues, all long-term goals are all welcomed and encouraged.

This sort of a culture encourages people to be motivated and driven and, as a result, I believe it helps to develop strong farm teams when combined with good technical farm management and good communication.

I’m beginning to realise that developing the skills to deal with all these facets of a progressive business is far more of a challenge than the actual day-to-day workload on a dairy farm

Personally, it’s my ambition to farm in my own right long-term. My view to achieving this has certainly changed over the last couple of months, as I’m now realising that successful farming is not dependent on one man, but on a team of people, from on-farm staff to advisers, bankers, etc.

I’m beginning to realise that developing the skills to deal with all these facets of a progressive business is far more of a challenge than the actual day-to-day workload on a dairy farm. The systems, structures and goals are all very relevant in an Irish context. A labour shortage on developing farms is already apparent and it’s now coming to the fore as a limiting factor in terms of expansion.

If this issue is not addressed in the near future, I think the great progress made in the Irish dairy sector will suffer hugely as a result.

I’ve been surprised at the number of Irish people working out here on dairy farms. The majority are highly educated, motivated people, who embrace the challenges farming here present.

Saying that, I haven’t met too many eager to return home to work on Irish farms, which I feel reflects the lack of lifestyle, career progression, remuneration and work conditions that are typically on offer on Irish dairy farms.

At the core of any successful farm or business that I have seen, whether in Ireland or New Zealand, is good people. The sooner this is realised and nurtured on a greater scale in Irish agriculture, the brighter the future of our sectors will become.

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All stories from Michael Tobin