| 63 nzdairy Contract milker at Jenkins Road Dairies in Tuatapere Manpreet Singh Boparai has a new challenge on his hands as he negotiates the obstacles that have arisen out of the new Accredited Employer Work Visa. Jenkins Road Dairies has traditionally relied heavily on migrant workers and does even more so now with the tightness of the Kiwi labour market. Manpreet says immigration policies and employer accreditation used to be only for large employers, but since the Accredited Employer Work Visa came into force on July 4, 2022, any employer wishing to hire migrant employees needs to be accredited with Immigration New Zealand. “The accreditation process itself has cost us additional time and money, and it’s a major bottleneck in the system,” he says. “It takes ages to get accredited. They give you these 0800 numbers and you end up sitting on the phone for an hour. These things are not as easy as they look. ”Another complication arising from the new policy is the fact migrant workers must now be paid at least the New Zealand median wage, which as of February 27, 2023 came in at $29.66. “We have to pay this even if the migrant worker doesn’t have enough experience. Then when we can find Kiwi workers, we can’t pay them any less than a migrant worker with less experience. My costs are being pushed up so high and it’s not sustainable. And it’s not just me. Kelly Deeks DAIRY PEOPLE » Jenkins Rd Dairies Everyone is struggling to get staff.”Manpreet counts himself lucky to have supportive farm owners and a very good farm consultant in Greg O’Byrne from High Performance Farming, who are all doing whatever they can to help. Going forward, Jenkins Road Dairies will be relying more and more on technology, not only to fast track herd improvement but also as a labour-saving technique. “We have gone to DNA testing of all of our herd, and this saves us time during mating and calving. The alternative was matching all the calves to their mothers in the paddock and to do that, you need some experience.” DNA testing combined with the use of sexed semen for the top of Jenkins Road Dairies’ two herds is improving the herd’s figures quickly and making the business more sustainable as a result. In the three years Manpreet has worked at Jenkins Road Dairies, he has dropped 100 cows out of the herd and is still doing the same production. “Our herd figures are shooting up. Going forward at the same pace, we’ll be able to drop a further 100 cows in the next three years. This is helping us to drop some of our expenses as well, with less power, less labour, and lower vet bills, as well as saving $2900 for every replacement cow we don’t have to rear. All of these help at the other end with more profitability.”The cherry on the top for Manpreet is a reasonable weather season with enough sun and rain and a nice dry spring. “We’ve managed to save a lot of extra balage and silage, and the bottom line is looking better and better.” Barrett Ag Ltd Ph: Kahu - 027 5183 448 E: barrettagltd@gmail.com FB: Barrett Ag FULL SILAGE AND BALEAGE SERVICE ALL CULTIVATION Including direct drill and strip tilling - precision planting EXCAVATION 20 tonne digger/grader, D85 bulldozer/roller, tip trucks and trailers Complete Silage, Baling, Cultivation, Effluent, Spraying & Excavator Contracting Service Rabco Ag Ltd Tel: 03 225 8488 E-mail: admin@rabco.nz Web: www.rabbitt.co.nz Mobile: 021 362 766 New work visas pose new challenge Alex, Manpreet Singh, Gavin (front), Raka, Hayden , Adrian. Sara, Jaspreet, Veraaj and Manpreet Singh. Root Raking • Farm Drainage • Laser Drainage • All Track & Lane Work • Roading • Dairy Conversions• Grader Bulldozer • Precision Finishing Work •Vibrating Roller • Effluent Spreaders • 13, 16 & 20 Tonne Machines • Section Clearing
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=