Hiring Good Quality Farm Labour

  • 20 pages

  • Published: 20 Sep 2005

  • Author(s): Toni Nugent - Kondinin Group

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This project aims to raise awareness and speed up the adoption
by farmers of proven and professional methods of sourcing,
hiring and retaining quality farm labour. Kondinin Group’s 2003 National Agricultural Survey (NAS) showed 82 per cent of 720 farmers surveyed found the task of sourcing farm staff difficult. An effective and efficient workforce can make a major difference to the productivity of a farming business. For example, the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers estimated farm losses due to the difficulty in finding sufficient workers at $90 million, representing 10-20% of the gross value of productivity (Harvesting Australia – Report of the National Harvest Trail Working Group, June 2000). If $90 million can be saved in the Fruit and Vegetable industry alone, the potential gains in other agricultural sectors would be similarly as large, justifying the urgent need for this project to assist farmers in adopting better methods for sourcing, hiring and retaining farm staff.
Anecdotal and published evidence indicates farmers are
often not satisfied with the quality of labour sourced through
rural employment agencies (Harvesting Australia – Report of
the National Harvest Trail Working Group, June 2000).
The research assists farmers in learning from other farmers’
successes as well as helping them avoid the pitfalls of others.