Leadership and the ability to attract good people to work on dairy farms dominated the conversation at this year’s Nuffield Ireland annual conference in Dublin on Friday.
Two of the six 2017 scholar reports addressed the subject, as well as the keynote speaker Denis Brosnan, who spoke about success and leadership.
Farmers need to create a workplace that has comparable working hours and salaries to attract people into the sector, scholars Ed Payne and Bryan Hynes told the conference.
Culture of complaining
“There is no threat larger than farmers themselves,” said Payne, who is a dairy farmer from Co Roscommon.
He made the point that the narrative around farming and a culture of complaining makes the sector less attractive to new people.
His research aimed to find a way from moving farmers away from blaming employees' abilities to looking at their own farm system and whether that contributed to a high turnover of staff.
The key recommendations of his research:
More human resources (HR) training needed in agricultural colleges.More positive approach to the sector from farmers themselves.Develop an ‘improving employer certificate’ for those developing their skills in HR.Create tax reliefs to incentivise employees to work on farms that are certified.Deeds, not words – “Our workplace, our sector, let’s be proud of it,” Payne concluded.
“We must be willing to invest in the correct places on our farms to make sure we build a workplace that offers more than that of other sectors, varied work type, shorter commute, flexibility, less work or stress while off farm and improved health benefits.”
Profitable dairy expansion
Bryan Hynes’ study was on models for managing multiple dairy units in Ireland – profitable dairy expansion, but labour was a key element of this.
“We must make dairy farming an attractive career. We must be able to compete with other sectors in terms of salary and lifestyle,” said Hynes, who is also a dairy farmer.
“Currently, there is no advisory service for people running multiple units. I think there is scope for Teagasc to look at research and create a discussion group in this area.”
One of the main issues facing Irish farmers looking to expand is the average size of a farm (32ha), he said.
This is the main instigator for seeking out a second or subsequent dairy unit.
When is the best time to invest in another unit?
“When milk price is low,” Hynes says. “Before this step is taken however, it is crucial that the original farm is performing at a high level and most importantly churning out excess cash.”
Read more
10 principles of success from former Kerry Group CEO
Leadership and the ability to attract good people to work on dairy farms dominated the conversation at this year’s Nuffield Ireland annual conference in Dublin on Friday.
Two of the six 2017 scholar reports addressed the subject, as well as the keynote speaker Denis Brosnan, who spoke about success and leadership.
Farmers need to create a workplace that has comparable working hours and salaries to attract people into the sector, scholars Ed Payne and Bryan Hynes told the conference.
Culture of complaining
“There is no threat larger than farmers themselves,” said Payne, who is a dairy farmer from Co Roscommon.
He made the point that the narrative around farming and a culture of complaining makes the sector less attractive to new people.
His research aimed to find a way from moving farmers away from blaming employees' abilities to looking at their own farm system and whether that contributed to a high turnover of staff.
The key recommendations of his research:
More human resources (HR) training needed in agricultural colleges.More positive approach to the sector from farmers themselves.Develop an ‘improving employer certificate’ for those developing their skills in HR.Create tax reliefs to incentivise employees to work on farms that are certified.Deeds, not words – “Our workplace, our sector, let’s be proud of it,” Payne concluded.
“We must be willing to invest in the correct places on our farms to make sure we build a workplace that offers more than that of other sectors, varied work type, shorter commute, flexibility, less work or stress while off farm and improved health benefits.”
Profitable dairy expansion
Bryan Hynes’ study was on models for managing multiple dairy units in Ireland – profitable dairy expansion, but labour was a key element of this.
“We must make dairy farming an attractive career. We must be able to compete with other sectors in terms of salary and lifestyle,” said Hynes, who is also a dairy farmer.
“Currently, there is no advisory service for people running multiple units. I think there is scope for Teagasc to look at research and create a discussion group in this area.”
One of the main issues facing Irish farmers looking to expand is the average size of a farm (32ha), he said.
This is the main instigator for seeking out a second or subsequent dairy unit.
When is the best time to invest in another unit?
“When milk price is low,” Hynes says. “Before this step is taken however, it is crucial that the original farm is performing at a high level and most importantly churning out excess cash.”
Read more
10 principles of success from former Kerry Group CEO
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