Whanganui agribusinesses surveyed on staffing and issues around employment

Colleen Sheldon is Whanganui & Partners' agribusiness strategic lead. Photo / Supplied

Landowners in the Whanganui District have hit some problems when it comes to employing staff, a survey has found.

Some cited costs, and others a lack of skills or "work-ready" and motivated people.

Whanganui & Partners (W&P), in partnership with the Whanganui Rural Community Board, sent out a 10-page survey to 636 landowners, with results received on July 22.

W&P agribusiness strategic lead Colleen Sheldon is tasked with finding opportunities for land-use change and diversification, but first wanted to find out what happens on the land now.

She received 112 replies, which she said was good because the average return for surveys is 5 to 30 per cent.

The response to the workforce section of the survey is the first to be analysed and presented to the Whanganui Rural Community Board. The survey respondents included land uses in sheep, beef, horticulture, forestry, bees, dairy, goats, pigs, arable and deer, as well as egg production, tourism and conservation.

It found 40 per cent of the landowners surveyed hire staff and a quarter of those were looking for staff within the next 12 months.

Some said a barrier to fulfilling workforce requirements was finding people were not ready and willing to work, or finding people did not have the skills to operate complex machines or the horticulture knowledge for tasks like pruning.

The Covid-19 border shutdown could also be keeping out specialist contractors who normally spend part of the year working in New Zealand and the other part overseas.

Those who did not hire staff cited cost, compliance and regulation as barriers. They said training staff on-farm took time and reduced productivity.

Respondents to the survey were concerned about continued access to contractors for seasonal work such as shearing, harvesting and operating heavy machinery.

The next piece of the survey, about landowner access to the internet and mobile connectivity, will be presented to the board at its September 23 meeting.

Having good internet speed and cellphone coverage can make farming activities much more efficient, reduce isolation and attract a workforce, Sheldon said.

The sections on land use, succession planning, water supply and sources of information will follow.

Sheldon is W&P's first agribusiness strategic lead and has been in the job for a year.

When she was appointed, then-chief executive Mark Ward said the job was important because agribusiness makes up 7.6 per cent of the district economy, with meat and meat products comprising 20 per cent of its exports.