Staff retention

PI Stsker · Nov 27, 2023

Blue. said:
Local contractors can’t get staff to drive brand new fendts so getting anyone to milk cows is near impossible.

Back 4/5 years ago local contractor brought 8 fendt tractors in one hit but refused to pay any staff more than 8.50/hr. Thought that driving a nice tractor would make up for the crap wages.
Personally I’d drive a 2wd no air con old tractor or a brand new fendt; I wouldn’t take less of a salary because it’s a nice tractor

kiwi pom · Nov 27, 2023

Blue. said:
Local contractors can’t get staff to drive brand new fendts so getting anyone to milk cows is near impossible.

Two completely different jobs so different types of people are needed for them.
I'd have jumped at the contractor role as a young fella, today I'd probably milk.
One thing I won't do now is work on a shite hole, can't cope with it.

Skintagain · Nov 27, 2023

PI Stsker said:
Back 4/5 years ago local contractor brought 8 fendt tractors in one hit but refused to pay any staff more than 8.50/hr. Thought that driving a nice tractor would make up for the crap wages.
Personally I’d drive a 2wd no air con old tractor or a brand new fendt; I wouldn’t take less of a salary because it’s a nice tractor

I run shite but I would work for less on a good tractor as you could potentially end up a cripple on an old bus working very long hours but the newer stuff you wouldn’t. I would want more to drive something horrendous. I know an old boy who used to spend 70-100 hours per week on tractors over 50 years working he can hardly walk his back and legs have been shot for 30 years.

Blue. · Nov 27, 2023

PI Stsker said:
Back 4/5 years ago local contractor brought 8 fendt tractors in one hit but refused to pay any staff more than 8.50/hr. Thought that driving a nice tractor would make up for the crap wages.
Personally I’d drive a 2wd no air con old tractor or a brand new fendt; I wouldn’t take less of a salary because it’s a nice tractor

Good wage,good boss,he was telling me in the summer staff going forwards is his biggest concern.

kiwi pom said:
Two completely different jobs so different types of people are needed for them.
I'd have jumped at the contractor role as a young fella, today I'd probably milk.
One thing I won't do now is work on a shite hole, can't cope with it.

I know it’s a different job but once of a day you’d have no bother finding a tractor driver,simple fact there aren’t the numbers of rural staffing about.

deethedraw · Nov 27, 2023

pay peanuts get monkeys

Agri Spec Solicitor · Nov 27, 2023

We are having a celebration at work this week as my number 1 colleague in my department has put in a shift 25 years long.
I have been so blessed to have had such a great professional helping me for so long. We must be doing something right as there have been plenty of job offers from our competitors. Long service is getting rarer nowadays as some people prefer the gig economy. Staff retention is complex. In a nutshell they need to be paid at least the market rate but they also need to have whatever they judge to be good kit to work with. It might be a tractor of choice, in our case it is the latest IT and a ridiculously expensive but vital electronic library. My first day at work involved being shown a pile of wood in a corner. That’s your desk. Build it! Not a great start.

Blue. · Nov 27, 2023

deethedraw said:
pay peanuts get monkeys

There aren’t the monkeys to pay.

livestock 1 · Nov 27, 2023

The answer is trying to find someone who wants the job these days and is interested enough to stick at it

Devil's advocate · Nov 27, 2023

deethedraw said:
pay peanuts get monkeys

Tell Tesco's

glasshouse · Nov 27, 2023

There are no kids on farms any more.
Tractor drivers live in council houses in town and the countryside has been gentrified.
Thats why tractor drivers are scarce, the kids never get the freedom of being brought up in the country, being sent out after school with a sandwich and fresh tea for dad. They never get the bug.

Blue. · Nov 27, 2023

glasshouse said:
There are no kids on farms any more.
Tractor drivers live in council houses in town and the countryside has been gentrified.
Thats why tractor drivers are scarce, the kids never get the freedom of being brought up in the country, being sent out after school with a sandwich and fresh tea for dad. They never get the bug.

My neighbour has x3 lads,they never leave the house,when I was their age I’d been in every field,stream and wood in the parish and so had my mates.

PI Stsker · Nov 27, 2023

Blue. said:
My neighbour has x3 lads,they never leave the house,when I was their age I’d been in every field,stream and wood in the parish and so had my mates.

You don’t see kids out like you used to. When combining youd always have the village kids sat on the gate, you’d always find dens strung up in hedge rows etc.
not any more. There all glued inside on the Xbox or iPad.

glasshouse · Nov 27, 2023

Blue. said:
My neighbour has x3 lads,they never leave the house,when I was their age I’d been in every field,stream and wood in the parish and so had my mates.

Thats tragic
On the other hand you dont get the vandalism we used to

melted welly · Nov 27, 2023

kiwi pom said:
I don't think there's any magic formula for hiring and keeping staff, particularly in farming.
Get the basics right I suppose, make sure people know what's expected of them and if necessary, how you want things done. Set everything out in their contract have at least an annual review to talk through the year and any problems on both sides.
Except that some people just like changing jobs, the article is on dairy farming, I've noticed since being here that many dairy farms only really hire for a season with the expectation you will stay for the year then be gone. For some a lifer is considered a fault, entry level staff should expect a promotion (if available) or move away for better things, although that does seem to be changing a bit now.

I've never left a job because of the money.

For me today, I'll only take a job with known workdays and start and finish times (dairy farming is quite good for that) I wasn't always like that and it's not an issue for some.

It’s funny reading what you wrote there, the years hire is how it used to be done in Victorian time, workforce was far more transient up until even mid 20th century.
Were “feein markets” in Scotland, farmers and workers would meet up in town and there’d be a bit of bartering for terms for the year ahead, ploughmen, cattlers, grieves and gaffers. Whole families would up sticks and move annually, young single men would be put up in the bothy, older family men in a cotterhouse. interesting reading about it.
One of our friends farm by the Allan Water near Stirling and part of their offer was the men got an allocation of Salmon from the river, she said that back in the day a lot of the blokes in the area got so sick of salmon that it was in their contracts they would get mutton instead.

suffolksmallholder · Nov 27, 2023

How about part timers?
I always had a side job, particularly in summer time. Mainly hay carting but I could he trusted to turn up on time, get the job done and not trash my Claas ride.
And I can rope up properly

I’m a bit clunky on a ‘loader’ but I’m still keen

£14 per hour
SS

glasshouse · Nov 27, 2023

melted welly said:
It’s funny reading what you wrote there, the years hire is how it used to be done in Victorian time, workforce was far more transient up until even mid 20th century.
Were “feein markets” in Scotland, farmers and workers would meet up in town and there’d be a bit of bartering for terms for the year ahead, ploughmen, cattlers, grieves and gaffers. Whole families would up sticks and move annually, young single men would be put up in the bothy, older family men in a cotterhouse. interesting reading about it.
One of our friends farm by the Allan Water near Stirling and part of their offer was the men got an allocation of Salmon from the river, she said that back in the day a lot of the blokes in the area got so sick of salmon that it was in their contracts they would get mutton instead.

It must have been a nightmare, having to show them all the ropes every year.
On the other hand it was probably good for genetics

kiwi pom · Nov 27, 2023

glasshouse said:
There are no kids on farms any more.
Tractor drivers live in council houses in town and the countryside has been gentrified.
Thats why tractor drivers are scarce, the kids never get the freedom of being brought up in the country, being sent out after school with a sandwich and fresh tea for dad. They never get the bug.

It's not just the farm kids it's the kids of people who lived in the country and their parents worked in rural jobs. That's the way it was with me and a lot of my mates, we got part time jobs on the farms as soon as we could.
Houses in the countryside in the UK have been sold off to the highest bidder, often folk commuting to work in the city. Farm workers cottages have been sold for big profits, Ag ties removed from houses, big barn conversions made into expensive houses instead of rural worker accommodation etc. Rural jobs don't pay enough for folks to buy in the country, so they move to the town and their kids never get out in the countryside, so there's no interest.

If you want a farm worker here, it's almost a given that you have to provide accommodation.
When all the new dairy conversions were done there were often two or three houses built on site for staff too. Contractors will buy a house somewhere just to put staff up in.

Farmer_Joe · Nov 27, 2023

PI Stsker said:
Worth adding when it comes to money being quite a way down the FWI list if things to make staff stay.
I give a pay rise every year, normally around 5%. If a member of staff comes to me and says look I’ve been here a couple of years I’ve had my 5% but it don’t seem like enough I’ll take the time to sit them in the office and say okay what do you think is fair and why. If they can say to me the reasons they think they deserve 10/15/20% and convince me I’ll do it. If they always go above and beyond; make everyone else’s life easier then fair cop. I’d rather pay this guy an extra X amount per year and let him carry on doing his self designated management roll than say nah and inevitably see them leave with in 12 months and have to start from fresh.

How ever if someone gives me there notice under no circumstances will I beg them to stay, or offer better packages, there mind is made up at this point and your delaying the inevitable. The previous step mentioned when they come to you before looking else where is the time to act and make a change.

Im not an employer but have had several job before being a full time farmer (and builder

) and taking over from my later father,

i think you have it spot on with your ethic around employment, problem in most farmers have never been employee's so are really not in a place to comment on what works best for one, might be one of the reasons for the poor staff retention.

glasshouse · Nov 27, 2023

kiwi pom said:
It's not just the farm kids it's the kids of people who lived in the country and their parents worked in rural jobs. That's the way it was with me and a lot of my mates, we got part time jobs on the farms as soon as we could.
Houses in the countryside in the UK have been sold off to the highest bidder, often folk commuting to work in the city. Farm workers cottages have been sold for big profits, Ag ties removed from houses, big barn conversions made into expensive houses instead of rural worker accommodation etc. Rural jobs don't pay enough for folks to buy in the country, so they move to the town and their kids never get out in the countryside, so there's no interest.

If you want a farm worker here, it's almost a given that you have to provide accommodation.
When all the new dairy conversions were done there were often two or three houses built on site for staff too. Contractors will buy a house somewhere just to put staff up in.

A good house will retain staff

kiwi pom · Nov 27, 2023

glasshouse said:
A good house will retain staff

Yes I agree.
I remember being shortlisted for a decent job once and went to see the house that was being offered and talk to the rest of the team to see if they liked me.
Got on well with the head tractor driver who also had a house, he told me they'd probably give the job to the guy with a young family (he was right) as once they were in the house, kids at school etc, they wouldn't be as quick to move if he had a bad day. Single fellas (I was at the time) were more likely to move on.

Staff retention

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

Share this page