How many hours in a standard working day?

[Fellstoflats]

Genuine question, and I know that I'll get a thousand different answers.

What is a "standard" working day to you, or your staff, on your farm? How many hours?

On a run of the mill day - not lambing/calving/harvest/silage etc

For reference, I'm thinking 800ac, mixed beef/sheep/arable, modern equipment, not so modern buildings.

 

[Magnus Oyke]

Genuine question, and I know that I'll get a thousand different answers.

What is a "standard" working day to you, or your staff, on your farm? How many hours?

On a run of the mill day - not lambing/calving/harvest/silage etc

For reference, I'm thinking 800ac, mixed beef/sheep/arable, modern equipment, not so modern buildings.

7:30 - 5pm monday to thursday, finish at 4 on a friday. Half hour break for breakfast, an hour for lunch/dinner.

I'll work 'till 7ish drilling/fertiliser/spraying and reduce or not take a lunch break. Back in the yard at 9 or 10 on the combine.

All combinable crops and a bit of grarse.

 

[delilah]

5.

 

[Zebbedee]

Long covid has knackered the lungs, for some reason a damp day effects my lung function

Very sorry to hear that Adeptandy hopefully that will improve for you or at the very least we get some drier days take care

 

[Willie adie]

Not being obtuse here but how hard is fencing as work goes? I've only ever done the odd part day or day doing farm work where there is hedge trimming/chainsaw, post banger, telehandler, 360 etc etc and/or an 'all hands' operation going on so not really proper contract fencing where they go like hell and put up hundreds of metres a day. In reasonable weather, how hard on you is it?

I mean 7 till 7 might be possible if you are fit or there isn't a lot of sheer grunt involved?

Well I've arthritis in both hands , and I ruptured a tendon in my leg.
Lifting strainers, and holding in position whilst you reach for the chapper handles. And then positioning every post is hard on a body even worse if you have to swing the rock spike too.
Yeah I've my wife works with me now, and the quad takes some of the physicality away, I've also a staple gun but ironically it's more painful to use than thr hammer and loose staples.
My whole working life has been hard on my body, Coopering, farm work, forestry commission, mart work, fencing and I think the years are catching up with me

 

[Willie adie]

What a sad existence.

Certainly not a life choice I'd make

 

[Clive]

Genuine question, and I know that I'll get a thousand different answers.

What is a "standard" working day to you, or your staff, on your farm? How many hours?

On a run of the mill day - not lambing/calving/harvest/silage etc

For reference, I'm thinking 800ac, mixed beef/sheep/arable, modern equipment, not so modern buildings.

Monday - Thursday 8hrs 8am-5pm (1hr lunch)
Friday 7hr 8am-4pm (1hr lunch)

harvest / peak drilling or spraying times obviously extends that but try to avoid sundays


bigger kit is cheaper ( and more reliable) than more people

 

[suffolksmallholder]

At 65 I now ‘work’ for three days a week. 8 to 5 most of the time but 8pm on the odd occasion, fixing all the problems that occur on a day to day basis in an assorted jumble of HMO properties. 50% of the problems first encountered were from poor installation of items by inexperienced and possibly unqualified tradesmen.
I have a tiny flat that comes with the job. Rather like Harry Potter living under the stairs
Silly things like consumer units badly wired, N into the L. Wires cut & left buried in damp walls whilst still live (why the RCBO trips each time it rains).
Kitchen units set too low for the washing machine to fit under. Fire sensors covered (thats seven other folk put at risk by sheer stupidity just so one person can smoke) Water fittings badly connected give an idea of the things I have encountered. Not forgetting cockroach and bed bug infestations. Brrrrrrr
I have got to know each property quite well through its faults and have put a stop to most of the true horrors, particularly the electricals.
My smallholding takes up the next three days with items such as fencing, planting & etc as each season arrives.
Next big job is to repair the damage that occurred after the GSHP loops were installed last summer. Letting the trenches settle over the winter was a good start.
The seventh day is spent shuffling paperwork and searching for materials on t’internet as the house rebuild continues.
Plumbing parts in particular, such as Grohe thermostatic shower mixers can be found for less than half price. Similar Paslode nails and in date gas.
The same goes for finding suitably qualified and experienced specialist tradesmen/women to commission the GSHP. There’s a LOT of charlatans out there! The grants available have certainly brought out the flies.
All these things to think about keeps my mind active although the body with its replacement parts struggles to keep up
SS

 

[PI Stsker]

Monday - Thursday 8hrs 8am-5pm (1hr lunch)
Friday 7hr 8am-4pm (1hr lunch)

harvest / peak drilling or spraying times obviously extends that but try to avoid sundays


bigger kit is cheaper ( and more reliable) than more people

I’ve gone with this principal, bigger kit means less depreciation hours, less servicing cost and less over time, and gives you the capacity when the rain is in the distance to ‘push the stick forward’.

I may well be well over powered for my little amount but it means even when there is rain coming I can’t think the last time we pushed past 8pm! As I’ve said further up we could easily take the work lights off our kit and not notice.

 

[ollie989898]

At 65 I now ‘work’ for three days a week. 8 to 5 most of the time but 8pm on the odd occasion, fixing all the problems that occur on a day to day basis in an assorted jumble of HMO properties. 50% of the problems first encountered were from poor installation of items by inexperienced and possibly unqualified tradesmen.
I have a tiny flat that comes with the job. Rather like Harry Potter living under the stairs
Silly things like consumer units badly wired, N into the L. Wires cut & left buried in damp walls whilst still live (why the RCBO trips each time it rains).
Kitchen units set too low for the washing machine to fit under. Fire sensors covered (thats seven other folk put at risk by sheer stupidity just so one person can smoke) Water fittings badly connected give an idea of the things I have encountered. Not forgetting cockroach and bed bug infestations. Brrrrrrr
I have got to know each property quite well through its faults and have put a stop to most of the true horrors, particularly the electricals.
My smallholding takes up the next three days with items such as fencing, planting & etc as each season arrives.
Next big job is to repair the damage that occurred after the GSHP loops were installed last summer. Letting the trenches settle over the winter was a good start.
The seventh day is spent shuffling paperwork and searching for materials on t’internet as the house rebuild continues.
Plumbing parts in particular, such as Grohe thermostatic shower mixers can be found for less than half price. Similar Paslode nails and in date gas.
The same goes for finding suitably qualified and experienced specialist tradesmen/women to commission the GSHP. There’s a LOT of charlatans out there! The grants available have certainly brought out the flies.
All these things to think about keeps my mind active although the body with its replacement parts struggles to keep up
SS

Nothing would pee me off more than work done by supposed tradesmen that is sub-standard.

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Nothing would pee me off more than work done by supposed tradesmen that is sub-standard.

And in particular, electrical stuff FFS!
SS

 

[Chae1]

If you see the sunrise and sunset, you know you've done a day's work.

 

[had e nuff]

I work 7 till 3.30 ish with 30 mins lunch break. Fridays usually finish by 3 and meet a few lads for a pint or 2. No weekends unless boss is away.
Suits me fine.

 

[Drillman]

168 hours in a week

the average employee only works less than a 1/4 of the time.

and a lot of them still moan there stressed and over worked despite effectively having around 5-1/2 days a week off!

 

[Willie adie]

There was once a yardsman at the mart . Sadly now passed who started in Friday at 4am, finished at midnight and had to be back in the sat for 7.30 and no , it wasn't appreciated

 

[Wood field]

Hard to work out an average.. fairly small farm by today’s standards, on my own with Mrs at weekends.
Tend to do hours to suit what jobs need doing
Mowing etc we work to the weather
Lambing can be long hours , all work exept bailing and sheering done by ourselves
After a working life in another industry, I certainly won’t feel guilty if I finish early as long as the stock is right

 

[glasshouse]

If you see the sunrise and sunset, you know you've done a day's work.

Thats fine in march, not august

 

[Stewartry hill]

There was once a yardsman at the mart . Sadly now passed who started in Friday at 4am, finished at midnight and had to be back in the sat for 7.30 and no , it wasn't appreciated

There is one at Longtown does more than that

 

[ollie989898]

168 hours in a week

the average employee only works less than a 1/4 of the time.

and a lot of them still moan there stressed and over worked despite effectively having around 5-1/2 days a week off!

I guess it depends on what you consider stressful though? I should think in some professions if you have just done 4 back to back 12 hour shifts you would consider that plenty enough thanks? Throw in an hour of commute each way and you've extended their working week another 8 hours, too?

 

[ford 7810]

Nothing regular at all, self-employed, sheep, farmer, and agricultural contractor. just turned 64, not as crazy as I used to be ,but did put 18 hours on the forage harvester in one day this summer. Done a few all nighters in the past right round to daylight and breakfast time, but maybe didn’t start until teatime the night before because of the weather. The hardest part of that is if it hasn’t rained so you go back out to work. find it hard to recover nowadays. just finished lambing, but lambing time can be all hours but Mrs and I share that job. usually work with the clock any other time light nights work till dark usually but that’s mainly tinkering with a tractor or some machine of some sort. but if we fancy a day off don’t really care what day of the week it is we just go. do a fair bit of match ploughing they can be long days with a bit of travelling involved, but that’s for pleasure. never been on a proper holiday for years. Just a couple of nights here and there. but I can fall asleep at dinner time and not wake up till teatime.

 

[ollie989898]

Nothing regular at all, self-employed, sheep, farmer, and agricultural contractor. just turned 64, not as crazy as I used to be ,but did put 18 hours on the forage harvester in one day this summer. Done a few all nighters in the past right round to daylight and breakfast time, but maybe didn’t start until teatime the night before because of the weather. The hardest part of that is if it hasn’t rained so you go back out to work. find it hard to recover nowadays. just finished lambing, but lambing time can be all hours but Mrs and I share that job. usually work with the clock any other time light nights work till dark usually but that’s mainly tinkering with a tractor or some machine of some sort. but if we fancy a day off don’t really care what day of the week it is we just go. do a fair bit of match ploughing they can be long days with a bit of travelling involved, but that’s for pleasure. never been on a proper holiday for years. Just a couple of nights here and there. but I can fall asleep at dinner time and not wake up till teatime.

I'm the same. I can do some long stints but it does catch up with me eventually and then I need time for a few ZZZs.