The dairy industry continues to trend toward larger herd sizes, farm owners find themselves managing people as much as they manage cows. The ability to manage people varies widely from farm to farm. In the past, human resource management was informal or nonexistent, but now employed labor has become the norm on many farms. Cultural diversity, communication and training are all human resource concerns for today’s farm operators, especially where agricultural workers are of different cultural backgrounds than their employers.
In the October 25, 2015 Hoard’s Dairyman article More Cows, More People UW-Extension Dane County Dairy & Livestock Agent Jennifer Blazek and Jackson County Agriculture Agent Trisha Wagner share the results of a survey conducted on 220 dairy farms to assess employee management on farm.
Three full detailed reports regarding the survey including farm employee characteristics, wages and benefits for farm employees, and human resource characteristic and challenges for Wisconsin farms, can be found at UW-Extension Farm Team’s Human Resource Management.