A2t—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 28,1980 Dairy employee BY PAT KAUFFMAN LANCASTER Farm labor relations where to find help and how to keep it is the topic of this week’s interview with Lancaster dairy agent, Glenn Shirk Glenn, where does a dairyman find good help 9 Pat, I think when looking for farm help, some of the best labor a dairyman can find is from his own family There’s a tremendous op portunity for a farmer to work with his youth to get them started Parents must recognize the opportunity to develop good managers, good businessmen in their children by working with them closely. The dairyman must be careful when working with members of his own family that he doesn’t make farm life a life of slavery. He must show respect to the youth and give them the op portunity to gradually work into a share of the business or to make management decisions. This can work whether the youth’s future might be to gradually work into the farming operation and a transfer, whether he’s equipping the youth to start out on his own in farming or whether he’s training the youth for off-farm op portunities. Dairy farmers must recognize their opportunity to approach two concerns at once: the need for extra help and the need to build strong kids, mentally as well as physically Next where feasible, partnerships are one of the best methods for smaller operations to obtain the help they need. The advantage here is when you’re a part of the business, the business then becomes your business and you give more of yourself to it This is also the advantage of the family farm over the corporate structure. Partners tend to work toward the best in terests of the business A partnership does not have to be made up of family Fi members. A partnership could be a joint farming venture of two unrelated parties What is necessary is to be sure that the two partners are compatible The two people must share the same dream We’ve looked at the possibility of getting extra help from within the dairyman’s family or through partnership agreements What about other sources 9 When a dairyman looks for help he must first know what he’s looking for, Pat There are several categories in farm work There are critical jobs which require a sharp mind and the ability to make the right decisions Milking and feeding the cows, the duties of a herdsman, fall into that category For this job the dairyman needs someone with good experience or who is trainable. There’s another category of farm employee that is basically just a laborer with little expertise required If what the dairyman needs is someone to finish the baling while he milks, to take the pressure off during seasonal jobs, then this would be the right category to hire Perhaps in a small operation in order to free himself temporarily from the day-to-day milking chores, a dairyman could hire relief milkers In this area, there’s a great need for relief milkers Often in their place, informal agreements between neighbors with very little money changing hands are used Relief milkers are par ticularly good during periods of sickness, hunting seasons and vacation Often farmers are reluctant to pay the going rate for this service But farmers need to remember that it is often less expensive in the long run to use extra help wisely than to tie themselves down to a schedule which allows insufficient time to properly manage the business or for a badly needed vacation h in a series o relations—put yourself in their shoes When using custom milkers, it’s best if the milkers get acclimated to the herd before the necessary time Often the presence of someone new is disquieting to the herd The relief milker needs to know any special feeding, treatment or breeding in formation He needs to know the equipment serviceman, the vet, who to call for breeding service on cows scheduled to come in heat and the si* to tc uoC, Local Farm LANCASTER - The Federal Land Bank Association of Lancaster announced a drop this week in the amount of interest charged on its variable rate mortgages. Made possible by improved market con ditions, the move will benefit current member/borrowers as well as those with pending contracts. According to Association General Manager Carl A Brown, the area’s largest agricultural lender will lower its interest rate from 12 percent to 11 percent effective July 1. In addition, some of the Land Bank’s loan closing fees will be lowered. In conjunction with this drop m Land Bank interest rates, Brown said that the Lancaster Production Credit Association will drop its interest rate by one-half percem on July 1 That brings the total reductionof PCA loan rates since June 1 to 1.5 percent. Brown expressed pleasure with the interest and fee actions and expressed deep B"Lille HVtllle Coolers The Mueller Model “OH" with HiPerForm cooling, Mueller-Matic Automatic Washing System, and built-in freezer protection control is the most advanced bulk milk cooler in the world. The nation’s most progressive dairymen are using it. Shouldn’t you be? 200 Gal Girton 300 Gal Girton D-2 500 Gal Girton 1000 Gal Girton ASK US TO SEE A onToAhe queen road refrigeration ORIGINAL Box 67 ' Intercourse, PA 17534 MUELLER Phone: John D. Weaver - 717-768-9006 or 768-7111 dealers or Answering Service - 717-354-4374 interviews with Glenn Shirk location of controls such as a generator in the event of a power failure When looking for workers c dan jman should not overlook women Women are suited very well to many jobs on the dairy farm Their patience is conducive to good cow-calf raising results Once a dairyman has found a herdsman or dairy employee, Glenn, how does he keep him 9 Prohahjy thp jrio't im- Credit office announces interest drop satisfaction that the cooperative credit system had managed to keep rates from going even higher m recent months. “The Land Bank obtains funds through the sale of investment bonds,” he ex plained. “Even though the price of those bonds went as high as 17 percent at one point, it is a tribute to our cooperative that we were HARRISBURG - There were 920,000 hogs and pigs on Pennsylvania farms on June 1, according to the Penn sylvania Crop Reporting Service This mventory was up six percent from December 1, 1979 and 12 percent from June 1,1979. Breeding stock at 132,000 was up 19 percent from last year and market hogs at 738,000 were up 11 percent The spring (December 1979 - May 1980) pig crop of 653,000 pigs was up nine percent from last year’s sprmg crop of 600,000. There were 87,000 /r*' 500 Gal. Mojonmer "00 Gal. Jamesway 425 Gal Esco 600 Gal Mojonmer 500 Gal Jamesway 500 Gal Esco 500 Gal Milkeeper 500 Gal. Dan-Kool 1500 Gal “O” Mueller (2) 1000 Gal 400 Gal Dan-Kool ' e ,er Milkeepers portant point here is to be a good people manager This means putting himself in his employee’s shoes It means working with his employee in a businesslike manner and appreciating his feelings Workers appreciate a boss getting his hands dirty and sweating right along with them A dairyman must be able to bring himself to his employees’ level and oc casional! \ bung them up to his able, this t'me, to keep our member’s interest rate from gomg any higher,” he added Brown went on to say that the 11 percent interest rate was still high and represented a strain on local farmers already burdened with spiraling costs and depressed prices “But,” he stressed, “it is a step in the right direction.” Brown was unwilling to speculate on future rate changes but Hog numbers increase sows farrowed with an average of 7.5 pigs per litter. Keystone farmers intend to farrow 80,000 sows during the fall of 1980. Nationally, inventory of hogs and pigs was estimated at 65.9 million head, one percent above last year, 19 percent larger than 1978 and the largest June 1 inventory of jcgcord. Breeding in ventory at 9.53 million head, was eight percent less than a year ago, but seven percent above two years earlier. Market hog mventory at 56.4 millionhead was three THE MUELLER MODELS OH f MHL, AND MW WITH HiPERFORM MAKE ALL OTHER BULK MILK COOLERS OBSOLETE SEE THE MUELLER NEW MODELS ★ 500 MW ★ 600 MW The "MW” is one of the Lowest pouring Height Bulk tanks. Check with us all the new features on the "MW" bulk tank. If you are in the market for a bulk milk cooler and you don’t check all the advantages of the Mueller "OH” "MHL”, and “MW” you may be buying an obsolete cooler. a*; IN OPERATION, RIGHT ON THE FARM THE ALL STAINLESS STEEL MODEL-C FRE-HEATER FOR ALL BUNK TANKS Above all the dairjman must remember that his herdsman is a skilled em ployee and that the success of his operation can depend on him He must hire someone capable of making sound decisions and pav him enough to make a good In mg In next week’s column we’ll continue with a discussion on good em ployer/employee relation practices pointed with some optimism to recent downward shifts in the bond market as hopeful indicators “I believe recent events have demonstrated that a cooperative lending in stitution which is owned by its members can run ef ficiently, compete ef fectively, and serve the agricultural community well,” Brown said. percent larger than 1979 and 22 percent greater than 1978. United States hog producers intend to farrow 6 72 million sows during the June- November period, a decrease of eight percent from the same period last year but five percent above 1978 wm mowing urn* ** * w. 24 HOUR SERVICE
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers