Some weeks ago, we spoke to the team from Rocky Mountain Equipment (www.rockymtn.com), one of the largest farm machinery dealerships in the world.

Jon Beatty and Marco DiFranco were in Ireland to recruit farm machinery mechanics for work in Canada.

Their message is clear, they have lots of career opportunities for farm machinery mechanics in Canada for their business.

With a turnover of close to $1bn this year, Rocky Mountain Equipment is the second largest Case IH dealer in the world and has 38 dealerships throughout Canada. The company has evolved from the merger and takeover of a number of smaller dealerships which were struggling to continue in business with high machine stocking costs.

The dealership group employs 220 mechanics and needs 70 more. Jon said Rocky Mountain Equipment will need an extra 20 to 30 mechanics each year to cater for changes and their expanding business.

Jon said farmers in mid-west Canada typically have between five and 10 combines in the fleet on farms that average 6,000 acres. They tend to replace their entire fleet in one transaction.

Many are now opting to change the entire fleet every two years instead of four. This puts pressure on the smaller dealers who then have to fund this huge trade-in deal that could end up valuing the trade-in combines at over $200,000 each.

So why is there a demand for workshop staff? Jon explained that for Canadian dealerships the service department is the most profitable in terms of margin. While service at the dealership accounts for just 15% of the overall turnover, the margin for this side of the business is up to 35%. “Paying for overtime eats into that margin,” said Jon, “so we aim to reduce our overtime levels by employing more highly qualified mechanics. The challenge for our business is to reduce expensive overtime and maintain our levels of customer service. We can do this with bigger teams of experienced mechanics.”

The typical season for outdoor work in Canada is April and May for sowing crops and August to October for harvesting. Outside of those months, winter in midwest Canada is very cold and most of the machine service work is carried out indoors.

“We offer winter works programmes that many farmers use and these keep our mechanic teams busy indoors during these months,” said Jon. These jobs range from routine service to full machine overhauls.

The Rocky Mountain Equipment team will support families to get them established in Canada. Unlike the United States, getting into Canada requires only a 24-month work visa, which is relatively easy to get, according to Jon.

What they need are people with a fundamental knowledge of farm machinery and an interest in further training. “We are looking for people who are young and ambitious and who would like the challenge associated with a change of lifestyle,” said Jon.

He said that first-year apprentices are paid between Can$21 and Can$22 per hour (approximately €14 per hour), while experienced and qualified mechanics can more than double that figure. The normal working week is 42 hours – 8am to 5pm each day. The working hours change during the Canadian harvest, where 16-hour days can be the norm as farmers work around the clock to bring in the harvest with a short weather window using large fleets of combines.

Most of the Rocky Mountain Equipment dealerships are based in small towns and villages where they are close to their customers. Climate might be an issue for some as temperatures in central Canada can range from -30°C in winter to +30°C in the summer months.

Irish contact

Rocky Mountain Equipment has engaged the services of Niall Minogue of Quality Global Personnel Ltd, based at 10 Ormonde Street, Kilkenny (Tel: 056-7801222). Niall has worked with other farm machinery companies looking for skilled Irish farm machinery operators and mechanics in the past. Niall can provide both help and advice on getting work in Canada. Alternatively, you can get more information from Jon Beatty on jbeatty@rockymtn.com and by checking the company website (www.rockymtn.com) to get a view of the huge business.

Canadian New Holland experience needed

Steve Kelly, Human Resources Manager at New Holland dealers Moody’s Equipment, which operates nine dealerships across Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada, is also looking for Irish people with some experience to join the company.

Moody’s has a team of 200 people and that includes four mechanics and families from Ireland. They have three more Irish farm machinery people joining this month while still looking for eight additional staff members in total. Steve is interviewing candidates through Skype and/or meeting them at a convenient location.

“We need a completed CV and of course any information that may help such as written references from past employers,” said Steve. “We are really looking for people with agricultural dealership experience with parts, service and/ or sales. Ideally someone who has worked on New Holland equipment or is very familiar with it would be of a lot of interest for us,” he added.

Contact Steve.Kelly@moodysequipment.com for more details.