Agriland caught up with Conor Hogan in Teagasc Moorepark to hear his top tips on labour management this spring.

The spring calving season is one of the busiest times on dairy farms, with 33% of all labour input occurring during springtime.

Farmers are left stretched in terms of workload and labour, resulting in early starts and late finishes, all while they get minimal sleep and time off.

Therefore calves is one of the most important periods to manage the workload effectively.

But what are some of the simple things that can save some of that time over the next month?

Hogan, who is a research officer with the People in Dairy Programme, offered his time-saving advice which can help to streamline the spring workload.

He noted how milking is always the big task at farm level, requiring a third of all a farmer's time throughout the year.

Therefore anything that can be done to save time during milking is vital, whether that be improving the parlour's facilities and infrastructure, or simply adjusting the milking routine.

Hogan reminded farmers that even one minute saved in each line of cows adds up.

If there are 10 rows of cows to go through the parlour, it works out at 10 minutes per milking, 20 minutes per day, and over 2 hours per week.

Hogan advised farmers to plan the day's structure around a 16:8 milking interval to maximise efficiency.

He also noted how calves are a big pinch point in terms of labour at farm level, taking 20% of the time and labour during the season.

The research officer said farmers farmers should reflect on last year to identify areas for possible improvement.

It may be as simple as using a milk cart rather than buckets, changing the layout of pens or the feeding routine, or it could be planning for a larger investment such as switching to automatic calf feeders altogether.

It’s all about identifying the challenges at farm level and weighing up what the best course of action is and the cost-benefit in terms of resolving the issue.

Workload structure

Hogan's main advice for farmers is not focused on significant investments such as hiring staff or upgrading facilities.

His main concern is simply improving the overall structure of working day.

He said this is where time and money can potentially be lost, but with good structure and organisation of the day, it can become a big win in terms of starting the spring on the right foot.

He said the top percentile of labour-efficient farms are completing eight or nine tasks in the day in total.

Meanwhile, inefficient farms are running around trying to do 18-20 tasks with no flow or structure, maybe not getting everything done, getting home later, and quickly burning out.

It goes without saying something always goes wrong, and tasks often take longer to do than anticipated.

But if you can structure the day to fit in a certain amount of tasks, you can leave room for something to go wrong.

If nothing does go wrong then you can move on to the next task.

The table below shows results from a Teagasc survey which showed the top 25% of farmers were working 11 hours fewer than the average, showing how changing the structure of the day can save time.

According to Teagasc, when the surveyed farmers met, they agreed that the following areas are where time was being lost/saved;

Calf managment;
Workforce planning;
Weather;
Animal health;
Work organisation.

Hogan recommended offloading some of the workload to contractors, but advised getting relief help in if you are finding yourself in a pinch point every calving season.

Hired labour

Hired labour is costly, but essential if the pressure is bubbling over during busy periods.

The price of hired labour may not seem as bad if you can manage to set aside €5,000 from cull cow sales.

That €5,000 can get you over 60 milkings in the busy spring months if you are paying an average of €80 a milking.

The money spent will free up more time for tasks that may help improve the herd's performance, and may actually make that money back.

Farmers who are in a pinch point but can not find hired labour often switch to the likes of a 10-in-7 milking system to save time. However production levels will ultimately drop in these systems.

SOPs

If you do decide to hire labour, you must be up front with them about what their role is going to consist of and how long they will be needed for.

Be honest and flexible about their hours, roster, and availability for time off. The farm is your business so you are happy to put in the long hours, but for them it is just a job.

Most farm staff will automatically be conscious that, on a farm, something will always go wrong, and be flexible to work with that, however others may not be.

The farm needs to be an attractive workplace, so consider developing a standard operating procedure for jobs on your farm, this will also help you in in term of getting the jobs done to your desired standard.

SOPs are guidelines put in place on the farm to promote consistency on farm tasks such as rinsing out the milking parlour or feeding calves.

The best practice to ensure your SOP is efficient and consistent is to write a document consisting of step-by-step instructions.

SOPs are quite useful for any day-to-day operations on the farm, as it allows for dairy farmers and people employed on the to work towards a common goal and minimise miscommunication.

A  well-designed SOP should do the following:

Improve consistency;
Improve communication;
Provide direction;
Reduce training time;
Allow somebody to help out in the case of an emergency.

The SOP should then be displayed in an appropriate location, so that all employees or part-time/temporary staff like relief milkers can clearly see it.

The calving season is a stressful time with long hours and little sleep, but if you are hiring young farmers, try to stay calm with them and teach them the best practices rather than getting annoyed.