Rural Delivery: Looking outside the square for farm labour

By JANET TYSON*

Where will we find the farm workers needed, especially for the flourishing dairy industry? Why are youngsters, even those off the farm, looking everywhere but at agriculture for a career?

Most of the reasons are well-rehearsed, such as employers wanting to squeeze every last drop of work without paying wages to match. Or the fact that even the top farms couldn't match the mega-salaries available in the IT industries.

But I wonder how much we should fret over the decline in agriculture course enrolments at university. A tertiary education in almost any subject will go a long way towards equipping a person for success in whatever career they choose.

It imparts the maturity of perspective to identify what other technical skills are needed to do the job better, whether it's a course in stockmanship or a seminar on managing staff.

By all means let's keep encouraging youngsters to make their knowledge economy career on the land. But, at the same time, let's look at another largely untapped pool of employment talent.

They've possibly set up on a lifestyle block near you. Or they may still be living in the city and dreaming of the country. They are the people in their 50s - greying power, maybe. But "50 is the new 30," they say. For every 50-year-old contemplating a wind-down, there must be 10 with energy to burn.

Some, like the police and Army personnel, retire at a relatively young and fit age. Many have been restructured into retirement. All these people have a lot to offer an agricultural employer prepared to think outside the square.

You couldn't pay them peanuts, but that attitude must change anyway. You probably could get away with paying much less than their previous going rate if you can negotiate a work package that suits.

They probably don't want to work fulltime - a useful attribute if you want to make a gradual transition from family-only labour to employing an additional pair of hands.

They have fewer financial commitments than the young ones, and they're looking for interest rather than interest repayments. They might even look forward to a quiet Saturday night at home!

For every deficit in practical know-how, those former city dwellers will have a surplus of management skills and business nous, from familiarity with sophisticated spreadsheets to smart ways to negotiate contracts.

Brains and life experience can make up for a lot of brawn, and stamina and a realistic view of how to pace yourself can make up for a lot of raw energy.

They would probably reject outright the idea of doing two milkings a day. But they would be canny enough to contract a job-share arrangement for the morning shift.

Potential older workers are already to be found throughout the country, and they're not just the wealthy escaping the rat race for a life of perpetual golf. People are living longer and healthier, and most are not spending a working lifetime in the one job.

Yet the baby boomers are all too well aware that they need an income stream well into their sixties.

Let the kids study the high-tech topics and head off to Britain to earn big money as bean-counters. Back home, let those with life experience fill the gap, even if only part-time.

Perhaps they're waiting to be asked.

* Janet Tyson is a freelance researcher, editor and writer specialising in agriculture.