Phil Purcell, a dairy farmer from Kilkenny told the Teagasc National Dairy Conference on 28 November, his policy for staff retention is to trust them with responsibility and ensure they had adequate time off.

After breaking his leg in a farm accident a few years ago, Purcell realised that he needed to employ staff to help on the farm to help his herd expansion and manage the workload.

Purcell currently farms 112ha of land, with 228 cows. The herd is split between winter- and spring-calving, with the bulk of the herd calving, 170 cows, calving in February.

He now employs one dairy student, Conor, who is doing his professional diploma in dairy farm management, to help him on his farm and splits the workload between them.

Staff management

Purcell says that he has had three students before Conor, but never has any issues with them as he ensures that they’re paid the minimum wage, are given separate accommodation near the farm and have adequate time off, including some weekends.

“It’ll be quiet over Christmas and like all young lads, Conor will want to enjoy himself. During the quiet period he can have all the time he wants to let his hair down!”

“We’ll dry off the herd in early December and do the minimum around the Christmas and New Year before things start up again.”

Purcell finds that by giving staff time off during quiet periods, they are happier to apply themselves during the busy calving period.

Calving period

During the calving period, Conor and Purcell have defined roles, and Conor has responsibility for evening milking, stock feeding and grassland mananagement.

Purcell does the morning milking, calving,newborn calf work and calf-feeding and rearing.

Although he believes in giving students responsibility, Purcell still likes to manage the calves himself and will deal with night-time calving by himself.

“Calves are iodined, tagged and usually teat-fed with three litres of the calf’s dam’s colostrum.” Purcell said.

“This is the one job that I like to do myself to be absolutely sure that it’s done correctly.”

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Staff recruitment, management and retention remains a major issue for dairy farmers. The Teagasc National Dairy Conference heard how one farmer successfully manages staff.