It’s no secret that farms are busy places and across all farming sectors, dairy farming stands out as being particularly busy for prolonged periods.

While December and January generally present an opportunity for downtime, the spring workload is immense and this follows through to the breeding season, which continues for most of summer.

A feature of farming life now more than ever is the unpredictability of the weather.

From a dairy farming perspective this can have big consequences.

Take the last few months as an example: many farmers in the south and east parts of the country have had to feed silage or other feeds for weeks at a time this summer, due to the dry weather which depleted grass growth.

Similarly, severe rainfall has impacted grazing conditions along the western coast and many farmers have had to house stock in recent days, weeks earlier than normal.

Both of these examples lead to big increases in the daily workload on dairy farms because cows have to be kept back in yards, the silage – or other feed – has to be fed out, the cows have to be monitored and moved more regularly and the slurry they produce while indoors has to be managed.

The effects of all this extra work is not just physical, it has other consequences too, such as increased risk of anxiety or worry affecting the farmer’s health and wellbeing.

In a small number of cases, these feelings can manifest into feeling overwhelmed or unable to think straight. In such cases, farmers should talk to their GP for advice.

System

The Irish Farmers Journal spoke with Teagasc researcher and People in Dairy leader Conor Hogan to get a sense of his thoughts on how farmers can reduce the workload on dairy farms.

According to Conor, there are a number of key differences between farms that require a long number of hours to be worked per week and those that require a low number of hours to be worked per week.

The first difference, he says, is to do with facilities, with farms that have functional and efficient facilities enabling tasks to be done quicker.

Take milking as an example: on farms that have inadequately sized milking parlours with a high number of rows to be milked, the task of milking cows takes a lot longer than on farms with appropriately-sized parlours relative to herd size.

The same applies to other areas on the farm, such as calf housing, slurry storage and so on.

Conor said that, in his experience, the farmers who work the least number of hours per week have good facilities.

He said that technology on farms is related to facilities and some of the newer technologies have been shown to reduce workload, particularly around calf rearing. Another key area identified by Conor is around efficient work practices.

This can be interpreted as being organised and follow an efficient procedure when carrying out farm tasks. Doing simple things like having all of the equipment for a certain task in the one location, or having all of the cows close to calving in the one pen, can make completing tasks more efficient.

“Having a simple system that is high-performing, with a high six-week calving rate, leads to a condensed seasonal workload. That’s allowing the farmer to be more productive for the rest of the year.

“The whole piece around work organisation is absolutely massive,” Conor said.

“Having a structured and streamlined workload, with a daily plan in place and making sure the jobs are done is essential. The whole mindset about having a plan and framing the workload around that is crucial,” he says.

Does scale make a difference?

It’s often said that bigger farms are busier and by virtue of scale have more problems and lead to more stress. The flip side of that argument is that larger-scale farms can justify more employed labour, which allows the workload to be shared. As the saying goes: problems shared are problems spared.

I put it to Conor that it is often smaller farmers that are under more pressure, with farmers working on their own and putting in long hours.

“It is that bit easier to be more labour efficient if you have scale, but at the same time what the data is telling us is that, regardless of herd size, there is scope to be highly efficient and farms with 90 to 100 cows can be highly efficient,” he said.

“They can be run with one operator plus relief help with a really good lifestyle, which is an important message. I wouldn’t see scale as being a limiting factor at all in terms of labour efficiency,” he added.

Sources of labour

There’s no doubt around the fact that it’s harder to attract people to work on farms, particularly as farm assistants. With near full employment in the economy, there are many opportunities for people to work in roles with more sociable hours than dairying can often offer.

Having said that, there are huge positives to working on farms that other sectors cannot compete with, such as great flexibility, varied workflow, working with animals, working in nature and having the job satisfaction from producing high-quality, nutritious food.

The role of contractors is one which is often overlooked. While many farmers will rely on contractors for larger tasks like silage, others rely on contractors for almost all machinery-related tasks, such as spreading fertiliser, feeding cows during the winter, spreading slurry and so on.

Many farmers view this as an essential service, with the contractor providing top-of-the-range equipment and an expert driver. This service, like contract-rearing heifers or using a technician service for artificial insemination (AI), is another form of labour on farms and will help to reduce the workload for those working on the farm.

At the end of the day, reducing workload on dairy farms comes down to implementing good systems of work, having good facilities, using technology where applicable and adopting a production system that allows for busy times and less busy times.

For some farmers, it may involve a mindset shift and a recognition that working long hours is not sustainable and a turn-off for the next generation of potential dairy farmers. The key message is that a good lifestyle is achievable.