A fair salary.

[lady muck]

Put it like this, I used to work within engineering after university. A factory worker with no qualifications building cars started on £28k a year for a 37 hour week, they then got 25 days holiday plus statutory days, a 12% annual pension contribution if they put 4% of their own salary in, overtime at time and a half plus double time on Sundays and that was just starting out. Guys who had been there a while and built a skill were on over 50k and NONE of them had to drive machinery worth as much as a ferrari, had to handle dangerous chemicals, work long hours int he summer with no extra pay etc. etc. Some of them also got paid to a degree part time and then move into a higher position. How many farmers do that?

Where can my husband apply?

 

[Baling Hay]

None I suggest you go back there to work, everything is different and farming is what it is.

I did not work on the factory, I am just giving you an example of what an unskilled labourer can earn elsewhere. Farmers get very touchy about this sort of thing!

Farmers seem to forget a couple of fundamental diffferences, they forget that the employee cannot deduct expenses such as fuel and vehicle used to travel to work, they forget that the employee either has to pay rent or a mortgage out of his salary (most farmers have the farm do this), they forget that the employee must provide a pension for himself, they also have to pay PAYE which is usually much higher than what a self employed person would pay and they also forget that the employee does not get the same joy out of the job!

 

[Hilly]

Where can my husband apply?

Says it all really, Steaky its just the way things are this is why a lot have left farming and will continue to do so, my boys have been told already not to even think about farming.

 

[Baling Hay]

Where can my husband apply?

Do you want to move to Birmingham? It is boring boring work! Just placing parts onto a robot 8 hours a day.

 

[Baling Hay]

Says it all really, Steaky its just the way things are this is why a lot have left farming and will continue to do so, my boys have been told already not to even think about farming.

Thing is though, it does not have to be that way. It is that way for the simple reason that farmers do not take account of their full cost of production and also accept a very low wage, use family labour and accept a shockingly low rate of return on their land investments. As a result they continue to produce and accept low commodity prices for their produce, if more farmers stood back and costed everything in, made adjustments or cut back production the end price would rise and there would be a better margin in the job.

 

[JP1]

Interested on your thoughts! What would be a fair salary for someone on a 800ha farm expected to do an average of 40-60hrs a week 50-70 peak times. Weekends as required. No house or vehicle although poole car available if required to pick up parts/bits etc, basic company phone (no e.mail or net access). Roles including all veg and cereal spraying, most veg and cereal land prep, all cereal drilling, backup to veg drilling. Workshop repairs/servicing and organising/ordering all tractor and machinery parts, responsible for all h&s in workshop, make decisions when farm manager away. With following qualifications, 14 years on farm experience, clean full license, pa1-2, tele an counterbalance forklift tickets, ipaf trained ( cherry-pickers/man-platforms) abrasive wheels, welding, iosh health and safety, expired 360 ticket, + various others.

Fair to who?

 

[Clive]

Says it all really, Steaky its just the way things are this is why a lot have left farming and will continue to do so, my boys have been told already not to even think about farming.

there are people in this industry that make a lot of money. Some of the world biggest and richest companies are based in agriculture, just because you cant make what you think is good money from it doesn't mean no-one is and over our children's lifetimes there will be much more demand for agriculture and as a result the rewards will have to get greater

maybe not in the UK but an open-minded and skilled keen lad today could make a great careerer in this industry and be earning good money at it IMO

my grandfathers generation lived through a real boom in agriculture WW2-1980's and he did rather well out of that as did many. just because the last 30 years have been much tighter does not mean it will always be that way

 

[Baling Hay]

there are people in this industry that make a lot of money. Some of the world biggest and richest companies are based in agriculture, just because you cant make what you think is good money from it doesn't mean no-one is and over our children's lifetimes there will be much more demand for agriculture and as a result the rewards will have to get greater

maybe not in the UK but an open-minded and skilled keen lad today could make a great careerer in this industry and be earning good money at it IMO

my grandfathers generation lived through a real boom in agriculture WW2-1980's and he did rather well out of that as did many. just because the last 30 years have been much tighter does not mean it will always be that way

Where do you think this young lad should go then?

 

[ianw]

Wages may be important but conditions and working relationships must also be considered.fair enough jump ship for another 2k a year but your new employer may be the type to be chasing you about all day long or for your extra 2k he actually expects 5k of work.I've seen it lots,the grass is always greener and a fortnight later they require their old job back.Sometimes the money just isn't there to pay staff what there worth I'm afraid,and if you require a pay rise every year then best become an mp

 

[Brisel]

if you require a pay rise every year then best become an mp

Actually their net pay has fallen since the expenses gravy train stopped...

 

[JP1]

Says it all really, Steaky its just the way things are this is why a lot have left farming and will continue to do so, my boys have been told already not to even think about farming.

Do you think they'll listen?

 

[Clive]

Where do you think this young lad should go then?

East

 

[Goweresque]

Given you are the trained sprayer operator, I'd say you are underpaid, but only because of that. All your other responsibilities are tractor driving based, for which £26K is about right IMO. You have no management responsibilities (I hope so any way, given the amount of chiefs there seems to be on the farm) so £28-30K would seem in the right ball park.

 

[Baling Hay]

East

East Yorkshire? East Anglia? Eastern Europe? Eastern Asia? Australia? New Zealand?

 

[ianw]

The thing is a lot of modern farmworkers have multiple skills ie they cover a few trades.Yes a tractor that steers itself may seem simple but using the implement behind and efficiently is the key.Then there's the workshop skills plus building/drainage work etc,if we took the view british leyland took and had to pay one man to do each job separately then how many staff would you need?long gone thankgod are the days of "I'm not very bright but I can lift heavy things"

 

[Clive]

East Yorkshire? East Anglia? Eastern Europe? Eastern Asia? Australia? New Zealand?

Eastern Europe I reckon right now and the next decade, this industry will be full of wonderful opportunities and big salaries for the next generation I'm sure

we are going headlong into a massive skills shortage in our industry against a background of increased demand for our product .........................doesn't take a genius to work out what happens next !!

I wish I was my boys age, if they want to farm they are going to have a much easier ride than the first 20 years of my careerer has been !

 

[Hilly]

Do you think they'll listen?

I hope so, they doing well at school and I encourage that at the moment, they have had a very shelterd life here and don't think it would be healthy for them to leave school and work for me they need to go away and do other things and a good education will help them to do that, with a bit of luck me and the farm will still be here if need be in later years.

 

[Hilly]

Eastern Europe I reckon right now and the next decade, this industry will be full of wonderful opportunities and big salaries for the next generation I'm sure

we are going headlong into a massive skills shortage in our industry against a background of increased demand for our product .........................doesn't take a genius to work out what happens next !!

I wish I was my boys age, if they want to farm they are going to have a much easier ride than the first 20 years of my careerer has been !

I would not wish a easy ride for my kids, hard work etc etc makeith the man.

 

[Hilly]

All that happens when the masses get more pay is things get dear look at houses, folk have less fun money now then they did in the 70`s when they were on 80 quid a week.

 

[JP1]

I hope so, they doing well at school and I encourage that at the moment, they have had a very shelterd life here and don't think it would be healthy for them to leave school and work for me they need to go away and do other things and a good education will help them to do that, with a bit of luck me and the farm will still be here if need be in later years.

Very sensibleGive them as many options as you can. Bet they come back mind