In this week’s episode of Awkward Ag, Patti Durand answers a letter signed by “Trying to Find Balance” who asks Patti what they can say to other farm team members who make them feel guilty about trying to find a work-life balance. Do you need some advice on how to have an awkward conversation with someone on the farm? Send your questions to astewart@farmmedia.com. (Don’t worry, we’ll keep it anonymous.)

Click on the links below to watch more videos in the Awkward Ag series:

Is your parents’ accountant the best fit for the farm?

Sharing your final wishes with family

Responding to advice, whether you wanted it or not

Managing ‘not-so-good’ vibrations

How to ask for a raise on the farm

Taking awkwardness out of farm family discussions

The post VIDEO: Trying to find work-life balance on the farm appeared first on Country Guide.

I laugh now because what I defined as farming when I was young is not even identifiable in today’s operations: sleeping behind the seat of grandpa’s combine, driving the farm truck when I couldn’t reach the pedals and sitting shotgun in the grain truck with no air conditioning. 

This is the lifestyle that I remember. It is also the lifestyle that the next generation will most likely never know. The family farm has become a dynamic and complex business. For those who still hold on to the “old ways,” the landscape is becoming smaller and smaller by the day. 

In fact, consolidation over the next decade will most likely turn that style of farming into photographs on the wall. Whether we all agree on the timeline or not, consolidation in every sector occurs as margins tighten and the ability to earn a living becomes necessary for growth.

It doesn’t even have to be called “large corporate farming.” We could just say that tomorrow’s farms will be bigger than farms today.

So, what does this mean for those who want to grow in this industry? 

Some choose to look at the future as a glass half-empty. I choose to sell the glass and make money. (This is a running joke in entrepreneurial circles.) What that means is that there are unlimited opportunities for those who choose to see possibilities.

Farms of the future will require skill sets that historically haven’t been considered in primary producer operations. Instead of learning agronomy, we will learn technology; instead of operations, we’ll learn negotiating and business. For those who want to be involved in the farm, there have never been more opportunities.

My business partner, Jeff, and I spoke at an agriculture college a couple of years ago about the precision agriculture tools we use on the farm. The 40 students were a mix of farmers and urbanites, but all were interested in precision agriculture. We came away with two lessons that I speak about to this day: one, as farmers, we have done a poor job selling our story. None of the students realized the amount of technology used on farms today. 

And two, farms are in trouble because only one of those students saw a career in primary producer agriculture.

Unlike many others in our industry, I don’t see consolidation as a negative. I see it as an opportunity for farms to create jobs for the next generation like never before. 

The past was always about taking over the farm. Now, it’s about what do you want to do on the farm? The ownership role no longer consists solely of the CEO. A farm owner can be the technology specialist, the agronomist, the lead mechanic. We don’t have to force the next generation into a position that they may not want. They can own the company but do the jobs that fit their abilities.

Agriculture has not always been a cheerleader for change, but I consider this a step forward. And I will admit that I have hit the age where a new phone or a change in computer programs, or even road construction that changes my drive home, makes me anxious. 

But we are becoming an industry where the next generation doesn’t learn in textbooks: they learn in Instagram clips. They don’t work with their hands in the dirt: they wear designer jeans and collared shirts. Our industry needs to adjust. There are not enough farm kids to fill the labour void in this industry. 

We need to start selling the farm as a great place to work, not just a great place to grow up.

The post The farm isn’t just a great place to grow up appeared first on Country Guide.

“Our farmers are being hurt badly and we’re going to have to do something about that… We’re going to have an order on that pretty soon, I think,” Trump said at a White House event, adding that the order would address the hotels sector, too.

He did not say what changes the order would implement or when it would take effect. Representatives for the White House and Department of Homeland Security had no specific comment about the order, while representatives at the Department of Agriculture could not be immediately reached.

“We will follow the president’s direction and continue to work to get the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens off of America’s streets,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

Reliance on immigration

U.S. farm industry groups have long wanted Trump to spare their sector from mass deportations, which could upend a food supply chain dependent on immigrants.

Nearly half of the nation’s approximately 2 million farm workers and many dairy and meatpacking workers lack legal status, according to the departments of Labor and Agriculture.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told CNBC that Trump was reviewing all possible steps but that Congress would have to act.

Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, a leading farm lobby, said on Thursday that farm workers were key to the nation’s food supply.

“If these workers are not present in fields and barns, there is a risk of supply-chain disruptions similar to those experienced during the pandemic,” Duvall said in a statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in labor shortages and supply-chain snarls, with meat plants forced to idle and dairy farms to dump milk, and consumers encountering emptier shelves at grocery stores.

Trump acknowledges impacts

In recent days, demonstrations have been taking place in major U.S. cities to protest immigration raids.

Trump is carrying out his campaign promise to deport immigrants in the country illegally. But protesters and some Trump supporters have questioned the targeting of those who are not convicted criminals, including in places of employment such as those that sparked last week’s protests in Los Angeles.

On Thursday, Trump acknowledged the impact of the crackdown on sectors such as the hotel industry, which includes his company. The Trump Organization has said Trump’s adult sons are running his business.

“Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” he wrote on his social media platform. “Changes are coming!”

Farmers have a legal option for hiring temporary or seasonal labor with the H-2A visa program, which allows employers to bring in seasonal workers if they can show there are not enough U.S. workers willing, qualified and available to do the job.

Rollins said Trump was “looking at every potential tool in the toolkit” and pointed to the length of the temporary H-2A visas.

The president understands that we can’t feed our nation or the world without that labor force, and he’s listening to the farmers on that,” she told CNBC.

—Reporting by Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey and P.J. Huffstutter; additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Aatreyee Dasgupta, Leah Douglas and Ted Hesson.

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But those in the know say job descriptions on your farm will be worth the investment, and their value will be even more valuable if your business structure is less formal and the lines between work and personal life are blurred — as on most farms.

It’s a sign of the times. The thing that has been such a historic strength for family farms — the fact that the entire family will jump in wherever and whenever they see they’re needed — actually becomes a drawback on today’s farms because it can lead to dangerous and costly levels of confusion.

With more farms going multi-generational, and more farmers hiring more new employees, the risks are steadily growing.

By contrast, having clearly defined roles with assigned responsibilities and even job titles (when warranted) ensures that all important tasks are completed in a timely manner while preventing wasteful duplication.

It also decreases conflict and tension in the workplace, resulting in better relationships between both family and non-family employees and managers.

• READ MORE: Advice for the young farmer

So, what’s not to like?

Kelowna HR consultant Janice Goldsborough has long been an advocate of having job descriptions in writing even on farms where only family is involved. And today, she finds them especially helpful for young or new-to-agriculture employees.

If you’re still unsure, just picture the day you need to hire on a new employee. You’ll quickly see the value of job descriptions when you advertise or otherwise spread the word about the job opening, and also when you try to sort out which candidate is the best hire.

“It’s helpful to identify the key knowledge and skills that are needed to be successful,” Goldsborough sums up.

Or, imagine you are out on a crop tour or at a farm conference and you get talking to someone who might be an ideal hire for your farm. They’ll be impressed if you can instantly drop a professional sounding job description in their in-box.

Plus, says Jim Versweyveld, farm management outreach specialist with the extension program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, if a specific license is needed for a position, it can be listed as a requirement in the job description to ensure only qualified applicants apply.

“If climbing a silo is a requirement of a job, it’s best to learn about a candidate’s fear of heights before an offer of employment is extended,” he says.

And the benefits continue when the job starts, says Jade Reeve, a program manager at the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC). “Having well-defined job descriptions can reduce the risk of employees engaging in tasks or responsibilities for which they are not qualified, which can lead to errors and accidents.”

The onboard advantage

Job descriptions can also be a valuable onboarding tool, ensuring expectations are clearly communicated to new team members. “People feel happier knowing it’s in writing. They feel more comfortable when they understand what they’re expected to do,” says Goldsborough.

On family farms with a loose organizational structure, job descriptions can also clarify the business hierarchy. By way of example, Versweyveld explains how confusing it can be for non-family employees. The new employee may wonder, for example, “since Uncle Bob has the same last name as my boss, does that make him my boss too?”

On family farms, job descriptions create clarity about the chain of command, agrees Brandon HR consultant Lyndsay Seafoot. When employees get tasks from multiple owners, they don’t know which gets priority, Seafoot says. “If you’re not the one assigned to task the employee then you need to go to the one who is and have a conversation so that the employee is not involved in your disputes about who should be doing what and when.”

Another advantage comes when providing performance feedback. “How do you know what’s missing if there is no job description?” asks Versweyveld. “People can only succeed in a role if they know what that role is.”

Goldsborough agrees that it gives the farm manager something to compare employee performance to. “When a job’s not done, they can say ‘Hey, this is your job. It’s in your job description.’”

The job description can also highlight what skills are missing so that the appropriate training or education can be initiated, continues Versweyveld.

And if you’re worried some employees may balk at doing tasks not specifically listed in the job description, just add a line such as “plus other duties as assigned” to preclude it, says Goldsborough.

However, in order to maintain their usefulness, it’s essential to keep job descriptions updated, Goldsborough adds. “It’s not one-and-done,” she says. She suggests checking in with employees during the annual performance review by asking “are these still your jobs?”

It’s important for job descriptions to reflect changing roles when technology is adopted too.

Just remember, in the current competitive labour market, job descriptions can help your farm become the employer of choice, Versweyveld says. They give potential employees a positive first impression and they can motivate employees, particularly millennials, who are keen to advance their careers within an organization.

Reeve does have one caveat, though. It’s to keep it real. The farm is a challenging and often unpredictable environment, she says. “It’s essential to strike a balance between the structure that job descriptions can provide and the unique dynamics and needs of the family working together.”

Tips for great job descriptions

Choose a job description that identifies the role and its level within the business.

Check first for templates that are available through organizations such as CAHRC and some producer organizations. Although every farm is different there is no need to re-invent the wheel.

Do not use any language that could be interpreted as discriminatory based on age, race, gender or other protected characteristics. For example, use gender-neutral terms such as herdsperson, not herdsman or “hired man.”

Avoid unnecessary jargon or overly technical terms. Use clear and straightforward language to convey the role’s requirements.

Draw up a visual map of how the structure works on your farm
(i.e. a simple organizational chart).

Specify the working conditions such as hours, travel requirements, physical demands, and any specific environmental factors.

Be specific about any qualifications, skills and experience required for the job, such as education, certifications and work experience, but do distinguish between “must-have” and “nice-to-have” qualifications.

List both the hard and soft skills required. Hard skills include technical requirements such as “operate skid steer” while soft skills involve personality traits such as “works well with others.”

Create job descriptions for seasonal and part-time positions as well as full-time jobs.

To cut down on the work involved, ask your current employees to describe their job responsibilities during short interviews and then have supervisors review the information for accuracy and completeness.

And don’t forget to mention…

(Adapted from Jade Reeve, senior program manager, AgriSkills, Canadian Agricultural Human Resources Council)

Keep your job descriptions brief but don’t overlook the value of including:

• A brief overview of the farm, its mission, culture and values to provide context for potential candidates as well as the role’s purpose and its key responsibilities.
• A clear overview of the physical location and working hours, including flexibility or special arrangements.
• A salary range or compensation, including additional benefits and perks.
• A clear description of how to apply for a job on your farm, including submission methods, deadlines, and any specific documents or information.
• Do mention opportunities for career growth and advancement.
• Also, always include a statement affirming the business’ s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Also ensure the job description complies with relevant labour laws and regulations, including equal employment opportunity laws and non-discrimination policies.

Resources

Canadian Agriculture Human Resource Council (CAHRC) features an online AgriHR Toolkit with HR templates, industry-specific guides, legal obligations, and much more. You can purchase a subscription directly through CAHRC but many producer associations provide access free of charge to their membership. Also, watch for a Community of Practice where employers can connect with others including HR experts to assist with best HR management practices.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension article “Writing Effective Job Descriptions” by Jim Versweyveld includes details on how to write a job description with examples.

– This article was originally published in the April 2024 issue of Country Guide.

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That has Lupe Gonzalo worried.

“A lot of places in the field, you don’t have access to shade, to clean and fresh drinking water,” said Gonzalo, a senior staff member with the non-profit Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who works with farmworkers across several southern states.

For years Gonzalo picked tomatoes, berries, sweet potatoes and other produce, and the heat was always an issue. But her concerns are mounting.

“It’s getting hotter and hotter as climate change continues, and it will continue to be an issue for workers,” Gonzalo, 43, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“We’ve already seen far too many people become ill and even lose their lives. So this is truly an urgent issue,” she said.

While regulations to protect agricultural workers from the heat have been held up by political wrangling, Gonzalo and her colleagues have spearheaded an alternate strategy.

They seek to sidestep the slow and increasingly politicized government machinery and instead appeal directly to consumers and large brands.

Gonzalo and others in the CIW set up the Fair Food Program to strike deals directly with large companies.

The companies pledge to pay fair wages, eliminate sexual harassment and other issues – including increasingly stringent heat protections – in return for Fair Food Program certification for their products.

The heat-related measures include providing shade, having required breaks, training for workers and supervisors, electrolyte-infused water, and the ability to seek care without fear of retaliation.

‘Sourced for good’

The program currently covers tens of thousands of workers in 10 states, through agreements with companies such as Walmart, McDonald’s, Subway and others.

The group also works with farmworkers in Chile and South Africa, and is seeking to expand to other countries.

At national grocery store Whole Foods, for instance, consumers can purchase Fair Food Program-certified sweet potatoes and cut flowers labelled as “Sourced for Good”.

Now the program’s reach is about to expand significantly, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) highlighted its approach for special acknowledgement under a new program aimed at addressing human rights and worker retention on farms.

Last month, the first-ever pilot awards were made under the program, which the Fair Food Program said would see it expand to 13 new states, nearly doubling the number of farms covered.

Tomato grower Jon Esformes, whose company received one of the awards, has implemented the Fair Food Program guidelines on his operations across the United States and Mexico, though the CIW is not present in the latter country.

He said he took the steps after sitting down for the first time to simply talk with CIW leaders about their concerns.

“I found very quickly a group of people that were interested in the same things I was interested in,” he said. “We want to provide a safe and fair workplace, we want to have transparency, we need our workers to feel like it is their farm.”

Protection decades overdue

The U.S. government has dragged its feet on worker heat protections for decades, said Juanita Constible, a senior advocate with the heat solutions program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

About 51 million U.S. workers are at high risk to heat, with less than a fifth of those covered by standards, the think tank has found.

The federal government is only now updating 1970s rules, last week releasing a proposal that would offer heat protections for indoor and outdoor workers, including requiring employers to provide workers with water and shaded or air-conditioned areas above certain temperatures.

Still, a final rule could take years, with recent moves by the Supreme Court potentially further threatening such efforts.

While business associations said they were still reviewing the new proposal, farming and construction lobby groups have criticized early steps in the new process, warning of burdens to businesses.

Yet, Constible said, “the research has kept piling up that heat is not only potentially deadly to workers, but also drastically affects their productivity – billions of work hours lost in the U.S. and around the world because it’s too darn hot.”

The probability of work-related accidents rises by nearly six per cent when temperatures pass 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), according to research from the Workers Compensation Research Institute published in May.

In the absence of federal action, five states have passed their own laws with a sixth on the horizon, though these vary significantly in scope.

Cities have also taken proactive steps, including in June in Tucson, Arizona, but such efforts have run into political resistance, with new local rules in Florida and Texas halted by state officials.

Constible worries such politicization could continue, which she says underscores the importance of the Fair Food Program’s strategy of appealing to brands and consumers.

“I’m a huge fan. I think it’s been amazingly significant for those workers,” she said.

Farms that can ensure workers feel safe and have access to the tools to keep them healthy have found it easier to entice prospective workers, a UDSA spokesperson said.

That is what Esformes, the CEO of Pacific Tomato Growers, has found amid recent worker shortages.

“When the rest of North America was reeling with lack of workers, we did not have enough jobs for the people who wanted to work for us. And the reason is we’ve created a workplace-of-choice environment,” said Esformes, 61.

He said May saw the hottest temperatures ever recorded in parts of Florida, just as farms were in full harvest, but that Fair Food Program heat guidelines were in operation for the nearly 3,500 workers on the company’s 15,000 acres (6,070 hectares).

“There’s definitely a cost associated with it. Electrolyte powder is not cheap; breaks aren’t cheap,” Esformes said. “But you know what also is not cheap? People getting sick and people feeling like they’re not safe.”

—The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. 

—Updated July 9. Clarifies that CIW is not present in Mexico.

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If you want something done, ask a busy person. We all sometimes say this, and there’s a good reason why. As generalizations go, this one is true. At least, it’s true if the person is the right kind of busy, the kind of busy that comes from getting things done efficiently because they’ve got a talent for keeping the job in perspective.

These are people who maintain control. And because they’re so good at maintaining control, they excel at managing their daily work and often much more.

In other words, these are people you want on the farm. Their’s is also a kind of strength you want to encourage in your family. But is spotting that kind of ability really so easy? Is it an art or a science? Arguably, doesn’t finding the right person for the job seem just as much a work of instinct? That, and heart and trust?

Well, not on this Alberta farm.

Barr-Ag is one of Canada’s largest hay exporting businesses. It also seems incredibly lucky in the kind of talent pool it’s been able to bring together. However, like does attract like, and once you get talking to founder Barry Schmitt, the quality of their team seems anything but a fluke.

Closing in on two decades in business, Schmitt is a big believer in people and he makes the people around him believers, too, including the 103 employees who each contribute to grow, harvest, process and export timothy and other silage products to numerous countries each year.

There’s something else that hits you as well. As farm businesses go, this one seems a model UN. While a lot of farms may say their strength lies in their people, on this farm they really mean it. There are 18 countries of origin on its payroll.

With people coming together from so many backgrounds (including Canadians), this place is naturually rich in ideas about how to be efficient, how to solve problems and even how to create an enjoyable, profitable workplace.

But let’s go back to the farm. Barr-Ag is a “can’t-miss-it” place as you drive from Calgary north toward Edmonton on the Queen Elizabeth Highway II. Immediately after the Olds College exit, you find yourself staring at 65,000 tonnes of corn silage and the farm’s signage.

Plus there’s more. The farm has processing and storage facilities where it handles more than 175,000 tonnes of alfalfa, timothy, corn and barley silage and even straw that it processes into feed for hungry animals domestically and around the world.

Schmitt likes to say that what has happened at Barr-Ag is the result of hard work and building relationships with people and that it all goes back to when he was a farm boy from Outlook, Sask., venturing West with little more than a sense of adventure.

“I had six $100 bills and a ’78 Mustang,” says Schmitt, 61. “I didn’t start with a farm that was handed down.”

Now, he and wife Nancy, along with their children, have slowly and purposely built a business that will hopefully become the generational farm he has longed for since arriving in the province.

• READ MORE: Next gen talent scouting in agriculture

A ‘nervy’ start

Prior to Barr-Ag, Schmitt’s main business in Alberta was also in hay production and processing. In 1994, he signed on as a partner in TransFeeder, an Alberta-to-anywhere hay producer, processor, wholesaler and shipper that was part of a much bigger joint venture including multiple companies and even Sumatomo Corporation, the Japanese mega-conglomerate with its own bank.

Business was good. Hay production and market development continued steadily for many years and his company peaked with 200 employees. Asian markets wanted long-fibre product for their dairy herds and southern Alberta was just the answer.

While the business was up more often than down, it was high stress. Being a land-locked hay wholesaler 8,000 kilometres from customers and tied into a business partner with an 11-figure bottom line can be nervy at times.

“I was educated at the University of Saskatchewan, I worked at Olds College, and I’d been around a little bit, but the cultural differences between a Saskatchewan farm boy and a billion-dollar bank in Japan were rather huge,” Schmitt says. “They were creating 25-year business plans and we were dealing with the realities of daily weather.”

By 2004, he and his business partner decided to wind down TransFeeder and go from the corner office back to the tractor cab. Less than one year later, his new venture, Barr-Ag, was up and running as a farm and hay processor and wholesaler.

As Schmitt tells it, “I went from being the CEO of that company to putting coveralls on and I said, ‘I think we can grow it and process it and export it.’ And away we just went.”

What he couldn’t grow, he outsourced, which was no trouble at all: he knew virtually every hay farmer in Western Canada. He assembled a roster of elite farmers to produce high-quality hay which would eventually make its way into the feed bunks of international dairies.

The product came to Barr-Ag and was processed, containerized and sent to Asia. At first, it was 100 per cent timothy grass and 100 per cent headed to Japan and South Korea, which was a good start, but not, in Schmitt’s mind, a viable long-term plan.

Over the years, Schmitt had to get creative, building his marketing plan on his DIY ethic. He’d stuff hockey bags full of forages, get on a flight for South Korea and show off his samples to buyers.

After that it was on to China with not only timothy, but also alfalfa. Again, it wasn’t easy. Their initial shipment of timothy, which he believes was the first-ever from Canada, sat at the docks for seven weeks and was inspected more times than he could count.

“That was a huge step for us. We were very fortunate to find some very good customers and we expanded that business a lot,” Schmitt now says.

Success snowballed and today Barr-Ag boasts large, established markets in the Middle East and Asia.

The people factor

Beyond his farm staff, Schmitt also relies on many others, including Doug McBain who farms just south of Cremona in the shadow of the Rockies, an hour north of Calgary. McBain could see Schmitt knew business and wasn’t afraid to go for what he wanted — in other words, talent spotting isn’t a one-way street.

Speaking about Schmitt, McBain quickly goes to the “T” word.

“I guess you find someone you can trust,” he says.

“You have a business relationship, you have a personal relationship… some years you do better, some years maybe not, but it’ll all come out in the wash and you end up further ahead.

“It takes everybody working together. I mean, the trust goes both ways. I trust him, but he trusts me to produce a quality product.”

The hay business is fickle and with the weather, sometimes even nightmarish. On top of that, it’s essentially a cash system. There’s no hedging and it’s all based on quality, which either you have or you don’t.

“So, you have to be able to trust your buyer and your buyer has to be able to trust you, because that’s the only business management you have, trust,” says MacBain.

Spotting the talent

At Barr-Ag, talent means being able to see the big picture, not just the larger-than-life dollar signs in the spot market, Schmitt says.

“(Certain) farmers have a very short memory and it’s always the highest bidder,” he says. “The growers we deal with, it’s a big trust both ways. I feel they’re totally convinced I’m doing the best job,” but he says he believes they get that he gets it. “I’m dealing with their livelihood. It’s a two-way street.”

As a wholesaler, though, Schmitt has a tough road. He cannot run out of product. If he does, he risks permanently losing customers. Once a dairy farmer finds the perfect TMR for their animals, he explains, they rarely switch programs.

The quality of Barr-Ag’s custom mixtures is well known and understood by dairy customers. This spring, a Japanese dairy contended with hot and humid conditions. However, the cows on Barr-Ag’s silage were producing more milk than normal, and at a cheaper price, while production at other farms dipped.

“So, he tripled his orders right on the spot,” says Schmitt.

Committed to the work

To his knowledge, Barr-Ag is the only operation globally that produces and exports dehydrated barley silage.

Schmitt has many trusted allies in the business, including Shuichi Sakamoto, his sales and export manager who he met in 1999 through his previous venture. When Sakamoto joined Barr-Ag, his early days included a bit of everything, including logistics and marketing.

Sakamoto’s former company went out of business and it didn’t take long for Schmitt to recruit him. Schmitt needed help and it was a no-brainer to call his friend. The move was never just about business.

“He’s got this big heart and he cares about you,” says Sakamoto. “He believes that relationships build the business.”

Over the last 25 years, the two have shared everything from flights and business meetings to arguments and laughs. It’s Schmitt’s genius. “Once he lets you in,” Sakamoto says, “he trusts you. He’s not going to control you… he’s not a control freak. If he decided that you’re part of Barr-Ag, then right there he’s already trusting you.”

That belief in Sakamoto deepened his loyalty to the company and he believes it has for other employees
as well.

But don’t get it wrong. Schmitt does expect commitment, like in the April to November rush. “If you’re willing to work like that, then you earn my respect right away,” he says. “I find myself with people I can trust and be comfortable with. Then, we all go to work and try to do the best we can.”

The post If you build it on HR… appeared first on Country Guide.

“While government is reviewing its TFW program, it needs to consider the practical needs of agri-businesses and the future of Canada’s food security,” said Juliette Nicolaÿ, CFIB’s policy analyst in a release. “Farmers are already struggling with chronic staffing shortages and when they turn to foreign labour, it’s only as a last resort because they can’t find anyone locally. That’s concerning given Canada’s ageing population and a perceived lack of interest among Canadian workers in a career in agriculture.”

The prevalence of TFWs has grown since the program was launched in the 1970s, with an estimated three in 10 agricultural businesses hiring TFWs in 2023. The reliance on foreign workers is even more pronounced in certain regions, such as Quebec (51 per cent), and sub-sectors characterized by labor intensive tasks, such as the fruits, vegetable and horticultural specialties (64 per cent), according to CFIB.

According to Employment and Social Development Canada, among employers who hired TFWs, 92 per cent said foreign workers helped them meet demand for their products or services, while 89 per cent said that TFWs helped them stay in business.

Most agri-businesses (59 per cent) say they would be in favour of a multi-employer work permit as an option, to enable employers to share a foreign worker. However, the majority don’t support sectoral and/or regional work permits whether it’s under the current (59 per cent) or a new program structure where a third party would recruit and dispatch a pool of foreign workers (50 per cent), as they fear such permits could facilitate employee poaching and hinder retention.

To improve the TFW program’s efficiency, CFIB recommends the federal government consider:

• Reducing red tape associated with hiring TFWs, notably streamlining the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process
• Allowing for the sharing or transferring foreign workers as an option (e.g., multi-employer work permit)
• Indexing the housing deduction to inflation – it is currently C$30, which does not reflect real housing prices
• Allowing employers to match the wages offered by another employer with an LMIA in the same area to strengthen retention and curtail poaching. Provisions under the Employer Compliance Regime currently limit this.
• Reimbursing the employer for the costs associated with the administration and enforcement of the compliance inspection, should the LMIA not be issued
• Introducing a mechanism to compensate initial costs covered by the employer whose employee has been poached and streamlining access to new TFWs

The post Improvements to temporary foreign worker program recommended: CFIB appeared first on Country Guide.

“While some agriculture employers offered these benefits, many participating organizations do not offer any flexible work arrangements or basic benefits like sick days,” CAHRC wrote in a report on its 2024 survey of compensation practices in Canadian agriculture.

The survey encompassed 140 organizations representing 609 employees across major farming sectors (horticulture, beef and poultry are not reported).

It found that on average of 44 per cent of farms offer their employees sick time. Hog farms are most likely to give sick leave (56 per cent) but give the fewest days (3.75 days average) while apiculture (beekeeping) was least likely to offer sick time (21 per cent), but those who did on average allowed employees six sick days per year.

The majority of grain and oilseed (between 60 and 70 per cent), dairy (about 60 per cent) and swine farms (nearly 90 per cent) offered employees vacation time. Those that gave workers between 11 and 13 days off.

Finfish (aquaculture) farms were most likely to offer employees health insurance (a bit more than 80 per cent of farms). Swine farms came next, with nearly 70 per cent reporting health insurance. Around 30 per cent of dairy farms offered health insurance, while about 60 per cent of grain and oilseed farms did so.

The survey also examined employee wages by role.

Grain and oilseed farms consistently paid employees the most. The weighted average wage for farm managers was nearly $38 with a median wage of$39.90. Farm workers were on average paid a bit more than $27 per hour, with a median wage of $28.

Farm managers on dairy farms on average made nearly $26/hr with a median wage of $26, and workers made $21/hr and a median wage of $20/hr.

Hog farms paid managers on average a bit less than $32/hr and workers about $21/hr.

By comparison, employees in the construction sector in 2023 were paid nearly $36/hr on average, across all roles, Statistics Canada data shows. Manufacturing paid an average of $33.50/hr. Transportation and warehousing paid nearly $33/hr. Accommodation and food services paid on average a bit less than $22/hr across all positions.

StatCan data puts the average agriculture sector wage at $24.77 per hour in 2023.

The Canadian job market is expected to slow in 2024 with increasing unemployment rates from labour availability, CAHRC said in the report. However, agriculture is experiencing persistent labour shortages as producers struggle to hire workers.

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“Workers tend to point to low pay and limited career growth as the main reasons they are less interested in agriculture [jobs],” says a new ‘state of the industry’ report from the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council (CAHRC).

The report, released today, quantifies the current agricultural labour deficit, drawing heavily on surveys done with employers and employees in 2023. The Conference Board of Canada conducted the study on CAHRC’s behalf.

The report noted that worker turnover is at a record high. In 2022, the voluntary turnover rate of agriculture jobs was 14 per cent, up from 10 per cent in 2018. The Canada-wide rate in 2022 was 7.7 per cent.

This varies widely across various types of agricultural jobs. Aquaculture jobs have a voluntary turnover rate of less than five per cent–the lowest of all ag sectors surveyed. Dairy comes in second-lowest with just under 10 per cent. “Support activities for farms” has the highest turnover rate of more than 20 per cent, closely followed by poultry and egg farming.

When asked why they thought employees weren’t sticking around, employers ranked “work is too physical” as the leading reason, with low pay and benefits as the second, and long working hours in third.

When asked what factors limited their interest in agriculture, more than half of employees said low wages and benefits. Limited career paths or opportunities for advancement came second, followed by low job security.

Less than 20 per cent said physical labour was a problem, as compared to nearly 40 per cent of employers. Just over 10 per cent said long hours was an issue, compared to about 30 per cent of employers.

CAHRC noted it surveyed people currently employed in agriculture.

The results suggest employers who prioritize wages and career opportunities could improve retention, CAHRC said.

The average agricultural wage is a bit less than $20 per hour, while the average Canadian wage is just over $25 per hour, the report said. Greenhouse and nursery, and fruit and vegetable workers tend to be the lowest paid. Grain and oilseed workers tend to be the highest-paid farm labourers, with an average wage of about $25 per hour. However, this still puts it behind manufacturing, which averages just above $25, and construction, which is just under $30 per hour.

None of these can compete, wage-wise, with oil and gas–its average wage is just shy of $40 per hour.

Yet, CAHRC noted that higher wages alone doesn’t eliminate vacancies.

Grain and oilseed farm worker wages are the highest in agriculture, yet these farms have a job vacancy rate of seven per cent. That’s lower than other agricultural sectors, but above the Canadian average of nearly six per cent.

“Employers in grain and oilseed struggle with recruiting because of their rural location, seasonal hours and manual labour needs,” the report said.

Employees also noted that work environment and management were important. Nearly 30 per cent cited poor management as their primary reason for leaving jobs.

Supply and demand

In general labour outlook, CAHRC reported that more than 28,200 jobs went unfilled during the peak season in 2022. Labour shortages caused a 3.7 per cent decline in sales in 2022, which resulted in lost sales worth an estimated $3.5 billion.

Agricultural employers are increasingly turning to foreign workers. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of foreign workers increased by more than 30 per cent.

CAHRC estimated that the domestic labour gap in the ag sector will increase 15 per cent by 2030. An aging population will be a key driver, as the ag industry will see over 85,300 retirements in the next eight years.

“Even with four out of five of otherwise vacant positions expected to be filled by foreign workers, 22,200 jobs will still be vacant during peak season… by the end of the decade,” the report said.

Crop production industries are projected to have the largest number of vacant jobs, with 15,200 in 2030.

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Over the last seven years, Taylor has interviewed 250-plus candidates and hired more than 100.

He downplays any praise he gets for talent spotting but he does have a firm hiring philosophy.

He’s blunt about it too. “I don’t like to hire_____,” he says.

Taylor is plain spoken so readers can fill the bleep in with their own choice. It’s what he tells candidates too. They chuckle. But he also means it.

“You have to work together to get a lot of jobs done. You’re going to be there for 12 hours working beside somebody… There’s nothing that makes the job worse than working with a person who doesn’t want to be there.”

Taylor always checks out the candidate’s resumé, and if their skills look good, the interview becomes an exploration of their personality and less about technical skills. Skillsets change, he says, but usually not attitude.

Taylor has discovered that the types of people who succeed in the company, and in general, are the ones who think beyond themselves. He looks for candidates who are less likely to ask how long a task will take than whether it’s good for the company.

For instance, he made a hire just before Christmas over the phone. What was supposed to be a short-ish call, turned into 60 minutes. “He just had a million questions about our farming operation, what we do, the tractors we run,” Taylor says. “That passion for agriculture makes the biggest difference.”

That boosterism has turned rookie workers into long-term success stories. “Trust is something we implicitly give our employees right off the bat and we’re quick to give added responsibilities to people who want them,” he notes.

If the employee can see the bigger picture, that immediately signals maturity to Taylor.

“We respect that and that builds trust very, very quickly for us.”

The company has had good luck in hiring abroad, as well. Blair Burton was a former manager at Barr-Ag and an Olds-area farmer himself. In 2001, he and his family sold the farm and moved to Australia to begin farming in New South Wales.

In Australia, it didn’t take Burton long to get acquainted with other farmers in the area and encounter young adults looking for both employment and adventure. He began recruiting and knew exactly the type that would succeed at Barr-Ag.

He’s directed more than two dozen eager Aussies to Barr-Ag over the years. Some of the best talent Burton’s directed to Canada have been young men from non-agricultural backgrounds.

Upon meeting Burton, “their vehicle was spotless, they were well dressed, very well mannered. Some of these young guys had no farm experience and so I just gave Barry a heads up, ‘this guy’s going to be alright, but he’s green.’”

“They just turned out to be excellent employees,” he explains. “They weren’t too cocky, they would listen.”

Of course, there are also the farm kids who sit quite literally on the edge of their seat talking with Burton. In 95 per cent of cases, he says, they work out great.

On the farm, says Taylor, “If somebody seems to be having issues, I try to spend more one-on-one time (with them). I think that’s the best way to know how a guy is…. Get to know what they’re thinking, what they’re feeling while they’re at work.”

With so many people working at Barr-Ag, it would be nearly impossible to give preferential treatment, so they don’t. Taylor refuses to undercut based on a person’s skillset or experience. A person hired for the job is entitled to everything that job offers — or more, depending on their initiative.

It is part of his DNA, which he says has made him a “firm believer in people.”

“Talent,” he says, “is just a willingness to learn and work and grow with the company.”

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