Being a good boss is one of the hardest parts of Jeff Warrock’s job at Bruce Feedyard.
The family-run feedlot near Strathmore, Alta., tries to offer good working conditions and opportunities to attract skilled people.
But on the small operation, there is little chance for promotion.
“Where we run into problems is keeping the good people,” Warrock said. “People always want to advance and in a family business like this, there is nowhere to go unless he marries my sister.”
Dealing with 17 employees and practicing good people skills is an art that takes time to learn.
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“The blend of personalities and different skill levels makes it difficult to remain tactful at times,” he said.
Remaining tactful was the least of Stan Yaskiw’s problems with hired help. The Birtle, Man., farmer has decided to abandon the hog business because he can’t get good staff.
“I gave up,” he said. “We went through eight people in 13 months.”
He ran a satellite hog barn 25 kilometres from his home and had to depend on a barn manager to work on his own.
Results sometimes proved disastrous. One man left the pigs without feed for five days. Another helper only lasted four days and left to work on an integrated barn in another community.
Show me the money
Yaskiw figures money was the main problem.
He paid $2,500 a month and offered a rented house for $100. He preferred a couple, but often the wives didn’t like the house and in Birtle, the spouse couldn’t find a job to supplement their income.
“I know $2,500 is barely enough for a family to live so the spouse needs to work,” he said.
“Most we had didn’t want to work outside the home.”
Despite allowance for time off, he still was disappointed.
“The calibre of people we were attracting was really substandard.”
Young people weren’t willing to work hard for the wages offered.
Yaskiw also concedes his high expectations led him to spy on staff to make sure they fed the pigs, checked the oil in the tractor and didn’t lose or steal expensive tools.
“It’s fair to say I’m hard to work for in terms of what I expect,” he said. “I can’t take it if things aren’t done really well.”
Those in the custom combining business also face a shortage of good labor, as well as reams of labor regulations for each province or state they enter.
Rules hinder hiring
Alvin and Alanna Hermanson of Standard, Alta., run a custom harvesting company and find that hiring crews and abiding by regulations is so tough they are cutting back their business.
They have had their share of unsavory characters sign on.
All potential employees must submit to a drug and alcohol test. If somebody lies about arrest warrants or drug problems, they can get turned back at the American border.
“Many times the machine sits rather than hiring the wrong person,” said Alanna.
Ray and Faye Taylor of Lethbridge, Alta., hire nearly 30 workers every year. Crews work from April to November and travel as far as Texas.
The Taylors often hire local students, as well as Australians and Africans who want the travel
experience.
“It’s always a challenge finding good people,” said Ray. “We always find them but it’s a long process. People don’t want to work 14 hours a day, seven days a week. I don’t blame them.”
To fill the labor pool, the Taylors hire their children.
“My kids were raised on a combine,” he said.
Reasons farmers have a difficult time attracting skilled workers:
- Poor wages.
- Competition for workers from agribusiness.
- Younger people often want to leave rural and farm areas for jobs in town.
- A tight labor market, especially in Alberta, where the oil patch and construction pay better.
- Image – farm jobs are often perceived as low-status, boring, strenuous and repetitive.
- Not all farm managers are skilled at managing people.
- A lack of training programs for skilled farm labor.
- Potential workers often are reluctant to relocate to the country.
- There is little awareness in urban schools of rural job potential.
- Attitude – farmers often see farm laborers as a cost rather than an investment.
Workers a part of value-added
The ad said it all “Pigs plus kids equals you.”
An Ontario hog farm was looking for help and told local women if they had raised children they certainly could work part-time with baby pigs in a hog barn. The applications flowed in, supplying the farm with some reliable and non-traditional sources of help.
That kind of creativity often is lacking when people are looking for farm workers, said a human resources expert.
Too often people equate farm work with drudgery, said Wayne Howard, agriculture economist at the University of Guelph in Ontario.
“Agriculture is often the employer of last resort because it is often a drudge job. There is low social status associated with it and poor pay,” said Howard.
“The conditions are bad, so of course, you’re not going to have people flocking to work for you. There’s not a lot of status in hosing down a hog barn.”
Howard said only agriculture can solve its labor problems.
“Solving the labor shortage out there is to make sure the jobs you have in agriculture are good jobs, attractive jobs and treat people
decently,” he said.
“Most farmers would spend hours deciding which tractor to buy, and a few minutes hiring someone to drive it. The joke about the dairy farmer who knows the pedigree of each cow but can’t remember the herdsman’s name is too often not an exaggeration.”
A 1998 report on human resources from Alberta’s agriculture and food council concluded agriculture can’t grow in the primary or value-added sectors without good people.
Issues to consider
The report outlined a number of human resource issues:
- Labor availability – Skills often are mismatched for entry level jobs. More people need training and staff development.
- Attracting people – Agriculture needs to sell itself as a career with more competitive wages, benefits and cost of living considerations.
- Management skills – There is a shortage of good managers throughout the expanding livestock industries.
