The on-going up hill battle that is agriculture.....

[hillbill]

It would appear iam not alone in having difficultly getting and keeping decent staff? Is it a nation wide issue or more regional? Wheres the best place to find the unicorns that maybe out there?

Also, machinery price increases are a constant issue to us. I know theres nothing we can appear to do, but will it ever slow down?

Sorry for being rather pessimistic on a wet Tuesday but i thought a post of my thoughts on here may be better time spent, than a afternoon sat trying to justify either of the above.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Imo I think you are right there is a shortage of good staff, quite concerning really because there is a lot of potentially useful work out there to do.

 

[jackrussell101]

Decent labour is tough to find nowerdays, know doubt about it, if you drop on someone decent do whatever you can to keep hold of them I'd say. And I imagine it'll only get worse once eastern Europeans are unable to come into the country from June onwards.

As for machinery, we now increasingly use a contractor for the main jobs and use older second hand kit when it comes to doing bits of our own.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

It would appear iam not alone in having difficultly getting and keeping decent staff? Is it a nation wide issue or more regional? Wheres the best place to find the unicorns that maybe out there?

Also, machinery price increases are a constant issue to us. I know theres nothing we can appear to do, but will it ever slow down?

Sorry for being rather pessimistic on a wet Tuesday but i thought a post of my thoughts on here may be better time spent, than a afternoon sat trying to justify either of the above. [emoji2369]

The answer is in your writing

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Imo I think you are right there is a shortage of good staff, quite concerning really because there is a lot of potentially useful work out there to do.

Tell him to get contractors in [emoji23]

 

[Yale]

Must be doing alright if you have staff.....

 

[M-J-G]

I think tightening down and lowering labour inputs to allow a one man band is the answer combined with working with a neighbour for holiday and peak times.

 

[hillbill]

Must be doing alright if you have staff.....

Tha

Tell him to get contractors in [emoji23]

Thats the thing. We are contractors.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Tha

Thats the thing. We are contractors.

I ain't daft enough to say rates are to low am I but that is the problem
Some guys on here want £20 to sit on a tractor when many jobs i can get done for £27 including fuel

 

[M-J-G]

I ain't daft enough to say rates are to low am I but that is the problem
Some guys on here want £20 to sit on a tractor when many jobs i can get done for £27 including fuel

Supply and demand

 

[hillbill]

I ain't daft enough to say rates are to low am I but that is the problem
Some guys on here want £20 to sit on a tractor when many jobs i can get done for £27 including fuel

Iam fairly sure iam well on the ball with costings and our pricing. We're certainly not working for nothing, but machinery prices go up faster than the job can stand for everyone to make a living. End of the day, if theres no customers, there's no work.
Ive just been quoted £120k to change from a 11 year old machine, to a 5 year old. To essentially do the exact same job. The margins are gettin too thin.

 

[MrNoo]

Machinery is a joke, was chatting to a neighbor this morn, Fendt air pump, £1800 for complete pump, head and overhaul kit was £800 and a seal kit on it's own was £300. He did some digging and found a firm that would rebuild the complete pump for £300 or do a seal kit for a little over £50. Just leg lifting and one of the reasons I would never buy an Agco product, am sure other makes are just as bad. They'll have a shock once SFP goes, just taking the pee

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Its a Mistory to me how any contractors make it pay ,

 

[Hilly]

It would appear iam not alone in having difficultly getting and keeping decent staff? Is it a nation wide issue or more regional? Wheres the best place to find the unicorns that maybe out there?

Also, machinery price increases are a constant issue to us. I know theres nothing we can appear to do, but will it ever slow down?

Sorry for being rather pessimistic on a wet Tuesday but i thought a post of my thoughts on here may be better time spent, than a afternoon sat trying to justify either of the above.

Same all over , talking to my cousin who is not in agg he’s manages a cabinet making factory , says they could easily get 4 times more work than they do but just can not get the staff , I spent most of my life unabale to afford staff now I can I can’t find any worth employing .

 

[hillbill]

Its a Mistory to me how any contractors make it pay ,

Dont get me wrong, if we wanted to be millionaires we'd have pursued a different career path. But the means to make a decent living appears to be getting tougher. Not impossible, but tougher.

 

[7610 super q]

Must be doing alright if you have staff.....

I have my butler following me when I'm ploughing carrying shear bolts and 24 mm spanners on a silver platter.
Have to sack him when I get involved with DD.

 

[AftonShepherd]

I have my butler following me when I'm ploughing carrying shear bolts and 24 mm spanners on a silver platter.
Have to sack him when I get involved with DD.

I read that as silver shear bolts and was going to ask about coming metal detecting!

 

[toquark]

Its a Mistory to me how any contractors make it pay ,

I think a lot of them don't. Some round here are basically part time farmers who keep themselves busy contracting. I'm also sceptical about whether it actually pays or whether they'd be better off working elsewhere a few days a week. Guess it comes down to what you prefer doing but personally, I'm not interested in keeping machinery sales reps in new pickups.

 

[Storeman]

I have my butler following me when I'm ploughing carrying shear bolts and 24 mm spanners on a silver platter.
Have to sack him when I get involved with DD.

No, no, you keep the butler on to take photos of the planet saving system you are using and get them posted on social media for a spot of virtue signalling.

 

[czechmate]

Of course, this issue was hidden for quite some years with Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and the like... obviously folk who thought their wage for being barley adequate at their job was being pushed down by skilled foreigners, so they managed to hyjack that route to staff