A friend who has quite a large herd of cattle and looks after them himself, with some help from his wife, and is calving at present, has just had a heart attack and now his wife has COVID. He has a daughter but she lives some distance away. Fortunately he has several good farming friends who are rallying round but it is a dreadful situation for anyone to be in and a nightmare for anyone with livestock, especially at calving. We were nearly in this situation last September ourselves. Accidents and injuries are also a real possibility. I don't know if anyone has brought this up before but has anyone thought of starting an agricultural "locum agency" to deal with this problem? I suspect there may be some sort of organisation for relief milkers but what about beef farmers? It's OK to ask friends and family for a little while but goodwill only lasts for a short time before it becomes onerous. If not, there is surely a gap in the market?
Help in time of trouble.
- Thread starter Cowgirl
- Start date
Goweresque
Member
- Location
- North Wilts
Would it not end up costing a lot, for the person paying for the service?
Even if you needed someone to come in twice a day to feed/muck out etc the relatively low demand for this service means that the agency would have to work nationally to be able to get enough trade to make it worth while, and thus the workers it supplied would probably have considerable travel times, upping the billable hours considerably. And if they are asked to live in for a period and provide round the clock cover you'd have to pay them for all their time on site, so in effect the cost would be similar to that which you pay for care for an elderly person. Which is very expensive, even for largely untrained carers, let alone medically trained staff. I believe a live in carer costs in the region of £1000/week. Thats when you have someone come and live in for maybe 2 weeks at a time, and they provide 24/7 assistance to an elderly person. No medical training, just caring. And given the number of people who have the knowledge and skills to work unassisted with animals must be many times less than the number of people who are able to care for elderly people, you'd think you'd have to pay the worker more than a carer gets. Which puts the price to the end user up too.
And then there's liability for calving, which would either require specially trained and certified staff (with considerable insurance cover), or the worker would have to purely call on vets to do all the calving, which would be more expense.
I think if you were to do it properly the small demand pool and the relative small pool of potential workers would make the cost prohibitive to any customer who did need the service. You're effectively asking for someone to take full management responsibility for the animals and their welfare. Done on a legal employment basis (rather than the 'helping family/neighbours out' basis) that is not going to be cheap.
Even if you needed someone to come in twice a day to feed/muck out etc the relatively low demand for this service means that the agency would have to work nationally to be able to get enough trade to make it worth while, and thus the workers it supplied would probably have considerable travel times, upping the billable hours considerably. And if they are asked to live in for a period and provide round the clock cover you'd have to pay them for all their time on site, so in effect the cost would be similar to that which you pay for care for an elderly person. Which is very expensive, even for largely untrained carers, let alone medically trained staff. I believe a live in carer costs in the region of £1000/week. Thats when you have someone come and live in for maybe 2 weeks at a time, and they provide 24/7 assistance to an elderly person. No medical training, just caring. And given the number of people who have the knowledge and skills to work unassisted with animals must be many times less than the number of people who are able to care for elderly people, you'd think you'd have to pay the worker more than a carer gets. Which puts the price to the end user up too.
And then there's liability for calving, which would either require specially trained and certified staff (with considerable insurance cover), or the worker would have to purely call on vets to do all the calving, which would be more expense.
I think if you were to do it properly the small demand pool and the relative small pool of potential workers would make the cost prohibitive to any customer who did need the service. You're effectively asking for someone to take full management responsibility for the animals and their welfare. Done on a legal employment basis (rather than the 'helping family/neighbours out' basis) that is not going to be cheap.
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
This is something I have thought about a bit. Although I do get bits and pieces of help from my Dad, wife and kids, if I were to die suddenly or be permanently incapacitated the stock would have to go very soon afterwards. And if I were on the sidelines for a week or two at the wrong time of year, it would be very difficult. I badly injured an ankle at work two years ago but luckily
it was at a quiet time of year (early October).Neighbours/family until these guys arrive:
www.mornioscontractherdcare.com
(Presumably beef animals are much the same as dairy cows when it comes to calving...)
Relief Milkers - Mornios Contract Herdcare
Relief Milking Cover available from MORNIOS CONTRACT HERDCARE.We provide a cost effective alternative to agency staff for temporary, short term Relief Milking and staffing assignments in the Dairy, Beef, Sheep and Arable sectors.
www.mornioscontractherdcare.com
this shows how vunrable we can be,i was called inshort notice for a knee replacment 3 weeks ago , i asked if i could have time to discuss with the family. they all said just get it done. this has left eldest son with all the spring work to do + stock, youngest works off farm but helps all he can. neighbors all have thier own work to do labour is cut to the bone. i will be glad when i can do a bit more . i keep telling mrs thorpe a man with no legs can drive a modern tractor, she dosnt like that. when i had th other knee done i was subsoiling within 3 weeks did she give me a bo11ocking.
That’s farmers!
That’s really interesting- so it can be done? So are they terribly expensive? (Thinking of my friend if he doesn’t get better quickly). How did you find them to deal with?Neighbours/family until these guys arrive:
(Presumably beef animals are much the same as dairy cows when it comes to calving...)Relief Milkers - Mornios Contract Herdcare
Relief Milking Cover available from MORNIOS CONTRACT HERDCARE.We provide a cost effective alternative to agency staff for temporary, short term Relief Milking and staffing assignments in the Dairy, Beef, Sheep and Arable sectors.
The problem is that at calving it wouldn’t be easy to sell stock quickly..This is something I have thought about a bit. Although I do get bits and pieces of help from my Dad, wife and kids, if I were to die suddenly or be permanently incapacitated the stock would have to go very soon afterwards. And if I were on the sidelines for a week or two at the wrong time of year, it would be very difficult. I badly injured an ankle at work two years ago but luckily
- Location
- Exeter, Devon
Tb would be another issue with cattle. 1 man band here and do wonder what would happen if I was incapacitated long term.
True - that would also be a big problem. Up here in Scotland I tend to forget that.
I was taken into hospital suddenly a year gone october with severe stomach pains on the way to hospital with my daughter plan was to sell all the fattening cattle as stores or fat the next week ewes could hang around a bit longer fortunetly i was pk again couple of days later just shows how vunerable we all are working on our ownThis is something I have thought about a bit. Although I do get bits and pieces of help from my Dad, wife and kids, if I were to die suddenly or be permanently incapacitated the stock would have to go very soon afterwards. And if I were on the sidelines for a week or two at the wrong time of year, it would be very difficult. I badly injured an ankle at work two years ago but luckily
smallholder99
Member
ive thought machinery rings could be providing this service or if you got anyone doing a bit of casual labour for you have them to help you feed up say once a month as well
You deserved a bollocking! Dad had a new hip November 2019 and didn't do anything at all for 6 months after and took it easy for another year almost after while his back straightened up again after standing to one side for so long. There's more go in him now than there has been in 10 years or more.
LET IT HEAL PROPERLY!
But do they? And many people don’t have any casual labour - if you do, would you trust them with calving cows? We had a retired farmer I used to call on but he died last year..
If I was too die tomorrow my mrs would probably only be able too find 1/4 of the sheep …the other 3/4 shed find in a week or so time when the electric fence battery’s started going flat and they started escapingThis is something I have thought about a bit. Although I do get bits and pieces of help from my Dad, wife and kids, if I were to die suddenly or be permanently incapacitated the stock would have to go very soon afterwards. And if I were on the sidelines for a week or two at the wrong time of year, it would be very difficult. I badly injured an ankle at work two years ago but luckily
- Location
- sw scotland
If you are Farm Assured you are supposed to have a business continuity plan. That includes a feed plan for various groups of animals so someone could step in at short notice
In practice neighbours would kick in. Lambing or calving a big problem but would just check daily as a minimum the aim being to save cows or ewes.
There are people who 'farm-sit' while you are on holiday through agencies and they would be available if only to keep an eye on things. But end of the day it is going to cost you as the alternative is a fire sale.
In practice neighbours would kick in. Lambing or calving a big problem but would just check daily as a minimum the aim being to save cows or ewes.
There are people who 'farm-sit' while you are on holiday through agencies and they would be available if only to keep an eye on things. But end of the day it is going to cost you as the alternative is a fire sale.
ill try only 2 weeks in im already frustrated . dont watch telly , about wore TFF out cant read as cant concentrate. staples out and first physio tommorow hope i come back in a better frame of mind.
smallholder99
Member
why dont you ask them, and if nobody does a few hours at all per year on your farm try teaming up with a similar farmer and do a few hrs a month on each others farms feeding etc so if the worse happens theres a bit of a plan, im suprised farm assurance havent cottoned on and make it a requirement
I'm sure it is hard but it will be worth it to get it healed right you've got a long time yet to use that knee properly. My dad has quite a few friends that had hips and knees done and gone back to work too soon and ended up ruining themselves all over again and in more pain than they were before. That was a pretty good incentive to behave. Listen to your physio and do what they tell you to it will make a big difference
