Labor
A recent USDA Ag Prices Report outlined that labor expenses were up 7.3% compared to 2020. Ben Laine with Terrain says that it’s not about the cost of labor, it’s about the availability of reliable labor.
Letting an employee know how he or she is performing can encourage the employee to perform at a high level, and letting the employee know he or she has fallen short can help reinforce expectations.
Farmers are confronted with a long list of challenges and labor is one of the biggest concerns facing dairy. Arizona dairy farmer, Casey Dugan, recently spoke about labor and hiring inmates on AgriTalk.
Dairy farmers and their employees don’t have the luxury of skipping work for a snow day. Know how to keep your team safe and warm.
“I’m here to tell you that the labor market is never looking back to where it has been.”
Managers tend to focus on two groups: the overachievers and the underachievers. As a result, he says, you neglect the employees who could become high performers — aka the B players.
One common challenge that pretty much every dairy producer can comment on is labor challenges. While labor shortages are no longer a stark headline, they certainly continue to be a headache dairy farms are faced with.
When it comes to turnover, leading experts say a producer shouldn’t just chalk it up that an employee left for more money. Pausing to understand your workforce’s needs can help minimize turnover in the long run.
Despite having a current expiration date of Oct. 31, 2022, employers should continue using the Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification until further notice.
Freed up labor needs to be redirected toward cow management to make robot milking successful.
Labor shortages are no longer a stark headline, but instead a continued headache dairy farms are faced with. Recently on an Ag Future podcast, Dr. Luke Miller with Alltech spoke about training and retaining labor.
Conflict. Everyone wants to avoid it, but experts say that’s never a good move.
When you hire a new employee, you have two responsibilities: Make sure the employee fills out a W-2 and a form I-9, and then verify, to the best of your knowledge, the identification cards they show you are real.
The U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday announced a final rule aimed at improving living conditions for temporary immigrant farmworkers.
Labor struggles in the dairy industry and a sharp focus on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, was recently discussed during an episode of The Dairy Download from International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA).
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides that eligible employees are entitled to paid sick time because of COVID-19, and employers are eligible for a tax credit to offset the expense.
Here are five bad habits to break to be a better farm leader.
Grain shipments on some railroads could stop as early as Wednesday, two days ahead of a possible rail strike. A rail stoppage is growing more likely as the country’s main rail unions remain at odds with rail companies.
Get to know your employees as people beyond what they bring to work.
The workplace trend, quiet quitting, has gotten a lot of attention lately. Instead of going above and beyond, employees are wanting more from their work-life balance. The question is how do you keep employees motivated?
How can you reward team members for good work, increase employee retention and achieve your operation’s goals? Consider implementing an incentive pay system to reward your farm employees.
One, two, three strikes you’re out. While this saying goes hand in hand with baseball, some farmers are wondering how many strikes until they let an employee go, as they deal with one issue after the next.
These scorching summer temps are not only taking a toll on crops and livestock, but farm employees as well.
How can we find, train, motivate and keep the best workers to manage our cows?
“To be truly successful, it’s all about the people behind the cows.”
The need for workers has the National Milk Producers Federation renewing its call for dairy farms to be given access to the H-2A Ag Guest Work Visa Program.
House Bill 4002, which will phase out Oregon’s agricultural overtime pay exemption, has been officially signed by their governor. Oregon farmers will be required to pay workers time and a half after 55 hours in 2023.
A COVID-era policy is about to expire, changing the requirements for employers verifying the identity of their workers.
Like many dairies, Desperado Dairy and Du Brook Dairy had a difficult time retaining dependable workers. That changed in 2018, when the dairy teamed up with the Florence West Prison to help fill the vacant positions.