That includes everyone from vets to contractors and a group of 15 women who arrived on December 11 for a Dairy Women’s Network workshop on human resources.
Jess and Don Moore, last year’s Dairy Industry Awards Sharemilkers/Equity partners winners, 50:50 sharemilk 950 crossbred cows at peak on the 325ha milking platform at Benio for Jeff and Edith Cunningham of Wanaka and Bruce and Sue Cunningham of Queenstown.
“One day we had eight contractors on the farm, which is quite narrow and rolling, and we suddenly thought at the end of the day we didn’t know if they had all left,” Jess said.
They decided to solve the problem of knowing who was on the farm doing what by having a sign in and out book in the woolshed by the farm entrance. Soon a pad of farm maps was added.
“A contractor can sign in and take a farm map with them and it has on it all the information they need to know.”
The map includes cellphone numbers for Jess and Don, where first aid kits and fire extinguishers are kept, farm hazards and the size of paddocks. On the back is a place for contractors to sign acknowledging they understand the farm’s health and safety policies, and record the date they were there and what they were doing, which gives the Moores a record of who was on the farm doing what. The maps are returned when visitors sign out on leaving.
The couple employ four full-time staff on an eight-days-on, two-days-off roster but believe the policies and procedures they have developed are essential even on single person, owner-operated farms.
“When our son Harry was born last year early we were basically taken off the farm overnight. Anyone walking into our dairy that morning could read how things should be done and milk our cows.”
Although they originally had the farm’s policies and procedures in folders in the milk room, they found staff reluctant to get them out and read them so they laminated the pages and stuck them on the walls.
“That’s all it takes – a printer, a laminator and a whole lot of highlighter pens,” Jess said.
On the outside of the drugs cabinet doors by the rotary platform are their mastitis treatment procedures. On the inside of the doors are photos of how the shelves of the cabinet should look – which box of treatments goes where.
“A photo works better than a list. It’s got to be visual.”
The photos also help alert staff when stocks are running low.
“It’s very easy to run out of things and we are only 12km to town but you can spend a lot of time running in and out. Everywhere we can think of we have places for specific things and notes on the walls or on the shelf about when to reorder them. When they get down to this level then they go on the shopping list.”
A custom-made unit by cups-on holds spray cans, teat lube and other necessities for milking, each holder made the size of what is meant to go in it.
“That saves us at least 20 minutes every milking in the spring,” Don said.
“You don’t have to go looking for things – everything is there where you need it.
“If you can solve all these little problems, like not having to find a can of paint when you need it, then you can do a better job and focus on the big picture stuff.”
A “responsibility tree” is a feature on the milk room wall with each staff member’s name and their role.
“We were just going to put the guys up there at first and then we thought we should put what we do up as well, so they know if I’m sitting inside I am actually working, doing the PAYE or the GST or whatever needs to be done,” Jess said.
“They know then there is more to farming than just milking and grass management.”
The Moores said time off the farm had been essential for them to prepare policies.
“We go away to Queenstown or Arrowtown for a weekend, it doesn’t have to be far, and we take the printer and the laminator with us, and we think of all these things. The staff always know and they’re always wondering what we’ll bring back with us.”
Staff buy-in was essential, they said.
“If a policy doesn’t work then we’ll change it,” Don said.
“We have team meetings every 10 days and we’ll discuss what is about to happen on the farm and if the policy works. Before the spring we looked at calving and we made some changes because the staff had thought of better ways of doing things.”
All staff are supplied with a waterproof cellphone with a calling plan that allows them to call or text each other and the Moores for free.
“They have no excuse not to ring if something is not right. We are lucky too that all of the farm has really good reception,” Don said.
“We haven’t come up with this overnight,” Jess said.
“It’s taken two or three years and there are still things we can do better. We’ve gone to lots of seminars but we’ve taken what works for us and put it into practice.”
