Asking current affairs questions during interviews is always a good insight into a person’s personality, contract milker Brad Eyre says.
The 28-year-old employs six full-time staff to milk 1320 cows on two farms.
While staff turnover is inevitable, it can be minimised by hiring the right people to begin with. Taking time to interview people and showing them the farm is the quickest road to getting to know that person and their farming knowledge, he says.
Brad always asks them about their previous experience, where they want to be in three years, and a few current affairs questions.
“If a person is interested in what’s going on outside their shell, they’re worth employing. If those people are thinking about the wider world, they are thinking about their own future.”
Brad is employed by his uncle and aunt, Jim and Debra Kirkham, who own three dairy farms at Tokanui, just outside Te Awamutu.
He contract milks for Oakwood Farm, a 171ha operation milking 730 crossbred cows, and PP Oaks Farm, 135ha milking 590 Jerseys. He employs six full-time staff, two relief milkers and two calf rearers during spring.
He uses Fencepost to advertise positions, but finds most people through word-of-mouth. The farms are close to Te Awamutu, so getting people to apply for jobs is not difficult.
In his ads, he lists farm specifics, that it’s only five minutes from town and has good infrastructure and facilities.
Brad’s five key questions to ask a referee
On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the candidate on:
1) Pasture management
2) Are they rough on machinery
3) Animal husbandry
4) How tidy they keep their house and section
5) How they work alongside staff and with authority
He always mentions that it’s winter milking, which can turn away unmotivated people because it’s thought to be hard work.
“You have to be honest in your advert to get the right candidates to apply.”
For a farm assistant position he can get anywhere between 80 and 100 curriculum vitaes (CVs), more than 50 for a 2IC and 30-50 for a farm manager position.
He immediately discounts people who send a generic application which has gone to 20 other jobs, have sent it from their partners’ email address, or who have poor grammar in their CV.
It’s a brutal process, but anyone who can’t organise their own email address to send CVs to potential employers, doesn’t do a spell check or can’t write a personalised application email isn’t worth looking at, he says.
“If you can’t get that right, why would I bother ringing you, let alone interviewing you?”
That gets rid of about half the applications. Brad then goes through the remaining CVs to look at farm experience and general background.
Having hobbies and interests outside farming is key for him. Having a role such as captain of their school cricket team is an indication they have good leadership skills, for example.
“If they’re passionate about something, they are generally good workers.”
Farm experience is not necessarily the most important factor. Some of his best workers had no clue about farming, but were keen to learn.
Experienced staff can have bad habits and aren’t willing to change their ways.
Once he’s cut the list to about eight people, he rings each one and has a short chat about farming.
If he likes the sound of them, he rings their referees. He always asks five key questions to get a more detailed opinion and gets them to rate the employee on a scale of 1-10.
“It’s so important that people are honest when they are acting as a referee.
“It can be a painful and time-consuming job. Farmers love a chat, and you can be on the phone up to an hour with some people.”
But taking time to ring referees is vital to getting the right person for the job and not having to replace someone a few months down the track.
He then brings three or four applicants out to the farm for a face-to-face interview.
“I’m quite informal. We’ll go through their CV and I’ll ask them a few questions, then I take them for a drive around the farm.
“You can quickly find out if they’re telling you the truth by asking them questions about the farming operation they’re on.”
From left, Paul Simpson, Eoin Loughrey, Renee Rangi, ToeToe Smith, Roy Emery, Shiree Henderson, Dean Connolly, Brad Eyre, and Krispin Kannan.
In his first year contract milking he tried to micro-manage staff and be across all the farm jobs every day. He ended up exhausted and having staff who relied on him for every task.
“When I first started I was trying to do everything myself. I wasn’t trusting my staff.”
By September, Jim pulled up to him while he was putting up a break fence and told him he looked terrible.
“I was wrecked. He told me that my staff might make some mistakes, but that I had to let them do some work.”
As soon as he let staff take on more responsibility, they stepped up to the plate.
“Everything ran better. I was probably stepping on their toes by micro-managing them. It must have been frustrating for them.”
Working to people’s strengths, giving staff responsibilities, and allowing them to solve problems is vital. One of the best pieces of advice Brad was given was to get staff to solve problems in front of him.
“Don’t give them the answer. Ask them what they think they should do. Next time, they won’t need to ask you, they’ll just get on and do the job.”
People want to learn and improve their skills, and an employer has to give them opportunities for personal development.
The managers are in charge of staff induction, rosters and relief staff as well as the daily operations including pasture management.
Staff get to choose how often they have their days off, but everyone seems to choose having three days off every three days, Brad says.
There is always a relief milker available for weekends off or if a person needs a day off during the week.
Brad milks every morning at Oakwood Farm and covers for the managers when they have time off. Working with staff is a good opportunity to see firsthand how they are going, he says.
Managers write fortnightly reports on pasture cover and production trends for Brad and Jim. Writing a report keeps them doing the basics and monitoring the operation, but it also lets them report on other jobs done onfarm.
Sometimes work can go unnoticed and it’s good for them to be able to record what they’ve achieved, Brad says.
Acknowledging good work was part of having a good rapport with staff. Brad works to create a fun environment for the staff, and often drops off a box of beers to each farm and has a beer with them.
“Jim always told me it was important to go and have one beer with staff, and then leave. It’s important they can sit down with you in an informal setting.
“I want everyone to be able to have a laugh. Dairying can be a pretty tough industry and if people can have a laugh it makes work feel like less of a chore.”
Jim, Debra and Brad always take staff out for a dinner before the start of the season and they have a Christmas function, such as a golf competition or paintball and a barbecue.
“We like to take them out and thank them for all their hard work during the season.”
All staff attend regular sessions with the local veterinarian, VetEnt, for pre-calving and pre-mating training.
It’s a good team day off the farm and it works because the instruction is coming from someone new who isn’t their boss.
Staff are encouraged to improve their skills through Primary ITO and Brad reimburses them for their costs when they pass.
Rather than going sharemilking, Brad hopes to go into an equity partnership with Jim and Debra.
They have been fantastic mentors who have helped Brad develop his own career, but even though they’re family it’s a business operation and he doesn’t expect or want any handouts.
“I don’t want anything handed to me. I want to work for everything I get in my life.”
Key points:
Farm owner: Jim and Debra Kirkham
Contract milker: Brad Eyre
Location: Tokanui, Waikato
System 5: Two tonnes/cow of either maize silage, palm kernel, lucerne, molasses, straw or milk whey
Crops: 16ha turnips, 20ha sugar beet, 10ha lucerne
Buy in: 100t grass silage.
Oakwood Farm:
Area: 171ha
Cows: 730 crossbred
Production: 330,000kg milksolids (MS).
PP Oaks Farm
Area: 135ha
Cows: 590 Jersey
Production: 230,000kg MS.
