In order to calculate the different skillsets of the people needed, Teagasc looked at the labour structure at different herd sizes.

Based on this, the national requirement for the number of people to fulfil different farm roles was calculated.

Based on the labour structure used in the calculations, the number of farm assistants, herd managers and farm managers will increase from 1,243 today to 2,034 by 2025. In this model, a farm manager is deemed to be required at a scale of greater than 360 cows.

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Full-time workers

The skillset required of full-time employees will be very high, requiring a high level of both formal and informal training plus on-farm experience, according to Teagasc.

The availability of a career progression pathway will be equally important as many of these will eventually end up as business owners in their own right in a collaborative farming arrangement.

Part-time workers

There is currently, and there will continue to be, a need for part-time labour on dairy farms. This is largely due to the seasonal nature of the work, but also to offer time off to the owner-operators of these farms, Teagasc’s analysis found.

The required number of actual people to work part-time will be greater than the 1,000 extra full time equivalent (FTE) workers estimated in the People in Dairy Project report (5,452 FTEs working part-time in 2025 v 4,457 FTEs working part-time in 2016).

Teagasc has outlined that there will be a number of sources for these part-time people:

  • Family labour: family labour will be available on some farms to provide some of this part-time labour; however, with larger herd sizes this form of labour will become less relevant.
  • Farm relief service (FRS): traditionally the farm relief service provided a significant amount of this labour on farms. However, in recent years the availability of this labour has been reducing due to the improvements in the economy and reduced availability of foreign workers from eastern Europe.
  • Agriculture education placement students: most agricultural education courses require a period of work on farm placement; in future years the number of students completing agricultural courses is likely to decrease (and has already in 2017), reducing the availability of this source of labour at peak times of labour requirement.
  • Agricultural contractors: one of the options available to dairy farmers is to contract out farming tasks at peak labour periods.

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