Herdsman pay

Mur Huwcun

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North West Wales
Should be £30k for a 37 hour week, people do have another life and family. If you can find a wife that will raise a family on her own for 11 days you’ve bloody done well but you’re loosing out on all the fun and milestones in kids life. Why run for someone else when there’s shed loads of work out there for anyone willing to get out of bed
 

farmboy

Member
Location
Dorset
Should be £30k for a 37 hour week, people do have another life and family. If you can find a wife that will raise a family on her own for 11 days you’ve bloody done well but you’re loosing out on all the fun and milestones in kids life. Why run for someone else when there’s shed loads of work out there for anyone willing to get out of bed
Depends if £30k is enough to pay a mortgage/rent, run a car, bring up a family
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
£12 per hour?
That's a bit low but probably closer to the truth than a lot of the numbers talked about on here.
Your commutes the issue, if you're the Herdsman for that number of cows you should really be milking them at both ends of the day, at least some of the time, but only doing a bit in the middle of the day, foot trimming, book work etc and have a minimum wage GFW do the grunt work. You need to live on farm or very close by to do that so you can spend time at home during the day.
How many other staff on the farm?
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
It’s many years since I milked cows, but why do they now seem to need to be milked in the middle of the night( 4.30am).
That would be fairly normal round here for anything other than a small herd. A bit late for some.
The idea being you can be done for 7/7.30 ish and see the kids before school and be done at night by 4 or 5 so you get a decent evening with the family. Potentially a few hours off in the middle of the day too, depending on the time of year.
You need to be living on site too really, which is why you'll rarely see a dairy position without a house.
 

Mur Huwcun

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North West Wales
Depends if £30k is enough to pay a mortgage/rent, run a car, bring up a family
It’s near enough to £2k a month in the bank, £3.5-£4k from both partners will give a comfortable life, maybe not a brand new X5 on the drip or two weeks in Dubai but it’s managable outside of London etc. Plus working 5 days gives you a day a week to fiddle around or do another ‘job’ from time to time plus a day with the family. How many working on farms get their 28 days holiday plus bank holidays, building up to 32 after 5 years etc, 2 weeks paid paternity, finish hour early on Friday.

I’ve done the working 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year when younger, oh come in on bank holidays, we don’t bother with them etc etc. It’s ideal for the single man. On a salary now with pension, 37 hour week, any extra is TOIL, 32 days holiday, flexibility to work from home, take little one to nursery every morning and pick her up in afternoon, count the lorries and buses on the journey every day, she points out which colour they are. It’s the things they and ourselves will remember.
 
It’s near enough to £2k a month in the bank, £3.5-£4k from both partners will give a comfortable life, maybe not a brand new X5 on the drip or two weeks in Dubai but it’s managable outside of London etc. Plus working 5 days gives you a day a week to fiddle around or do another ‘job’ from time to time plus a day with the family. How many working on farms get their 28 days holiday plus bank holidays, building up to 32 after 5 years etc, 2 weeks paid paternity, finish hour early on Friday.

I’ve done the working 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year when younger, oh come in on bank holidays, we don’t bother with them etc etc. It’s ideal for the single man. On a salary now with pension, 37 hour week, any extra is TOIL, 32 days holiday, flexibility to work from home, take little one to nursery every morning and pick her up in afternoon, count the lorries and buses on the journey every day, she points out which colour they are. It’s the things they and ourselves will remember.

Unfortunately I am one of those sad sorts that really is a workaholic at heart and I need the kind of employment where I don't really want to be out of the place.
 

Jdunn55

Member

Well, not all of them
The problem is that most farmers don't value their staff like ypu and a lot on here do. @BELOWAVERAGE is right, if you tried to leave half an hour early in the summer because everything was done you would be laughed at and given a bollocking followed by a list of jobs, but at calving when you stay an extra hour or 2 that's all forgotten about as it's 'part of the job'.

As for the op, travel time imo (and I'm probably going to be told that I'm wrong) is irrelevant to the farmer, its up to you, if you're finding it too long a commute you either need to change jobs or house. - personally I would be asking the farmer to build you a house OR asking him to give you a plot of land to build your own on.

He's not paying you enough but more importantly, again imo, you're working too many days in a row. I do not understand this 12 in 14 or 11 in 14 days for staff. I would have thought 9/10 in 14 is more than enough, with atleast a day off in the middle of the first week, 1 at the first weekend and then a complete weekend off the following week is more than fair. If I was advertising for a general farm worker/stockman/tractor driver I would be offering anywhere between £12 and £15 an hour fully employed. Assistant herdsman/woman needs to be £18-20 and anyone doing managing full-time like yourself needs to be at £20 an hour.

Full time is 40 hours a week. Anything over that is subject to overtime bonus of qt least 25% extra pay as far as I'm concerned.

Using the above, 40 hours for 50 weeks a year at £20/hour is £40,000 total a year which is fair I think.
 

Jdunn55

Member
That's a bit low but probably closer to the truth than a lot of the numbers talked about on here.
Your commutes the issue, if you're the Herdsman for that number of cows you should really be milking them at both ends of the day, at least some of the time, but only doing a bit in the middle of the day, foot trimming, book work etc and have a minimum wage GFW do the grunt work. You need to live on farm or very close by to do that so you can spend time at home during the day.
How many other staff on the farm?
£12 an hour is for someone to do as they're told and spread slurry/scrape up/ bed down calves not someone who knows what needs doing and when. I wouldn't leave someone on £12 an hour in charge of the farm for the day without giving them a list of jobs and running them through it, whereas it sounds like the farmer could leave the op to it for the day without even telling him and wouldn't have to worry let alone think twice about it
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
£12 an hour is for someone to do as they're told and spread slurry/scrape up/ bed down calves not someone who knows what needs doing and when. I wouldn't leave someone on £12 an hour in charge of the farm for the day without giving them a list of jobs and running them through it, whereas it sounds like the farmer could leave the op to it for the day without even telling him and wouldn't have to worry let alone think twice about it
Yes I know but I'm still in touch with quite a few lads that work on farms in the UK and they're not on the big money that's talked about on here.
There are some that pay OK but then something else is probably less than ideal. Then there's the problem of many employers requiring staff to be self employed,
It would be fairly easy for those saying there's big money to screenshot pay receipts, just block the names out.
Also minimum wage for those under 20 is quite a lot less.
I'm with you on the salary thing, unless you have a very good boss, its almost always in the employers favour.
 

An Gof

Member
Location
Cornwall
@An Gof Love the way you watch the Dairy thread! 🤭
🤣🤣🤣 you know me too well!!
Spent my whole life avoiding any opportunity to milk or work with dairy cows. Still only ever done the one morning in the pit we had to do at Harper at the bequest of Dairy Mary.
Even managed never to milk a cow on my sandwich placement and that farm had three separate dairy herds.
 
Location
southwest
Hi everyone. Was wondering what your opinion is on a hourly rate/ salary for herdsman.
Herdsman is commuting 2 hours per day as there’s no available accommodation on farm. Responsibilities include x1 milking 250 cows at 4:30am, Feeding calves twice a day and all extra calf duties, responsible for all records/admin, foot trimming, weekly vet visits and other general farm work. 11 days on 3 off. 110 hours fortnightly. 55 per week.
Any advice much appreciated.
For the time you are not at home you are getting £10/hour. Half your travel time and you]d still only be on £11/hr

If you think that's what you are worth, that's up to you.


PS 2 hours travel/day must be costing you £50/week out of your taxed income, so you're really on £9.00 hour.
 

frederick

Member
Location
south west
Always advertising. I just don't understand why.
But hang on a minute this job pays much better than the op.
When I read mobile home I also read free electric water and council tax. No commute and no rent.
So you have to live in a mobile home but if your happy with that the pay is worth more like £15 an hour or more if you had to cover all that after tax, and you have a job with minimal responsibility.
 

Jdunn55

Member
But hang on a minute this job pays much better than the op.
When I read mobile home I also read free electric water and council tax. No commute and no rent.
So you have to live in a mobile home but if your happy with that the pay is worth more like £15 an hour or more if you had to cover all that after tax, and you have a job with minimal responsibility.
But what use is that to anyone with kids? Or anyone married wanting kids or a couple etc

It should be £15 an hour excluding bills and the mobile home etc and then if they want the mobile home and bills paid etc work it back from there otherwise you're limiting who is interested to a very small demographic. Not to mention the night milking should be 25% extra pay as well
 

frederick

Member
Location
south west
But what use is that to anyone with kids? Or anyone married wanting kids or a couple etc

It should be £15 an hour excluding bills and the mobile home etc and then if they want the mobile home and bills paid etc work it back from there otherwise you're limiting who is interested to a very small demographic. Not to mention the night milking should be 25% extra pay as well
There is a lot of young people out there without commitments that say they are looking for a job. This job would allow you to save significant cash to put towards a house or whatever.
52 weeks 500 pound a week 25000 a year if you really wanted to save money you could keep your expenses to 5k tax 5k. Your left with 15k at end of year 1 in your pocket. That's why the polish liked these jobs the ability to build capital and take home was huge.
20 year old Brits don't think like that.
 

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