18 | nzdairy DAIRY PEOPLE » Chris Lewis Another short-staffed year for farmers Chris Lewis, Federated Farmers spokesperson for Employment and Immigration, says it is near impossible to find any casual staff: “There are no backpackers, no holiday makers – there is just no-one.” Kim Newth Without a big change in government policy around how the country re-opens to the world, farmers face another year of short staffing, says Chris Lewis, Federated Farmers spokesperson for Employment and Immigration. “We’re now going into a third year with an exhausted workforce, and it really is putting stress on the whole industry,” he says. “We’re all crying out for labour and we’re all struggling, and it’s not just a farming issue either. We have these incredible shortages of teachers, ICU nurses and doctors too and many other industries are in the same boat.” New Zealand’s border is reopening in stages from late February with priority being given to New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia and then, from mid-March to Kiwis and travellers from the rest of the world along with skilled workers earning at least 1.5 times the median wage. Further class exceptions for critical workers will be considered by mid-April. Chris says the focus on bringing in skilled workers on higher wages makes little sense from a dairy farm perspective as higher paid managerial jobs are not the ones farmers need to fill. “Those mid-range and senior roles are already filled by New Zealanders. In fact, what we really need right now are people who can come in with minimal or little experience and do that job of putting cups on cows,” he says. “The Government has got the horse and cart the wrong way around.” Federated Farmers, Dairy NZ and the Dairy Women’s Network have been lobbying on the sector’s urgent need for more international workers for some time now. Two hundred border exceptions for dairy workers were made last year, but this has done little to ease the problem. “By the end of January, out of 200 exceptions for dairy, only 20 had got in. Getting people through MIQ has been a slow and frustrating process and there is a lot of red tape. There were tractor drivers given approval to come into the country last year but by the time all the required paperwork has been processed by three or four organisations the maize will have been harvested.” He suggests other countries such as the US are being more proactive about recruiting agricultural workers, leaving New Zealand at risk of missing out. Farmers often hear the argument that they should employ more New Zealanders to fill the gaps, but Chris observes that the dairy workforce is already employing thousands of Kiwis. Migrants typically only make up 12-13 per cent of the workforce. “New Zealand’s unemployment rate is very low. A lot of rural areas are at zero unemployment so I don’t know how we can attract the best, the brightest and the smartest when there is actually no-one to attract at all.” Chris has firsthand experience of the recruitment headache. He farms at Pukeatua, south of Hamilton, milking 970-1000 cows, where there is a big focus on retention – “but during calving we usually employ two to three casuals but now it’s impossible find any casual staff. No-one is doing any casual work. There are no backpackers, no holiday makers – there is just no-one.” “Those mid-range and senior roles are already filled by New Zealanders. In fact, what we really need right now are people who can come in with minimal or little experience and do that job of putting cups on cows. The Government has got the horse and cart the wrong way around.” Te Awamutu Phone: 07 871 6781 Putaruru Phone: 07 883 3423 Otorohanga Phone: 07 873 8500 Milking Systems Effluent Management Refrigeration Water Reticulation Milk with confidence
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