The factors contributing to better workplaces for farmers on pasture-based dairy farms

ABSTRACT: Herd size expansion, combined with the reduced availability of people to work on farms, has led to an increased focus on techniques that can improve dairy farm social sustainability. Effective work organization is one such entity, which could influence farm social sustainability, and focuses on having a productive, flexible, and standardized farm workload. The objective of this study was to examine the factors that contribute to better workplaces for the farmer using a survey of representative pasture-based dairy farms in Ireland. Potential contributing factors to better workplaces for farmers were identified, namely farm and farmer characteristics, working day structure, farmer attitudes, farm facilities, labor-efficient practices, and human resource management practices. A survey was completed by 313 Irish dairy farmers between November 20 and January 3, 2019, to capture relevant information. One proxy indicator was selected to represent productivity, flexibility, and standardization within the workplace, and each of the 313 farms were categorized into quartiles based on their ranking for these 3 indicators (1 = most effective quartile to 4 = least effective quartile). The average farmer that completed the survey was 51 yr old, milked 125 cows, reported to work 69.6 h/wk, took 10.3 d of holidays per year, and had a finish time of 19:52 (h:min) in the spring. The quartile of farms with the most effective farmer workplace reported reduced hours worked per week (58.6 vs. 82.6 h/wk), more holiday days (16.6 vs. 5.1 d) and weekends off (8.3 vs. 2.4) per year, and earlier finish times (18:41 vs. 21:14 [h:min] in the spring) compared with the least effective quartile. Similarly, the most effective farms reported better facilities and greater implementation of labor-efficient and human resource management practices compared with the least effective farms. The most effective quartile for farmer workplace effectiveness was more positive about the industry's potential to offer an effective work-life balance, would be more likely to encourage young people to pursue careers in dairy, and had more positive attitudes toward attracting and retaining workers compared with the least effective quartile. This study highlighted the range of factors contributing to more effective workplaces for farmers, indicating scope for improvement on many farms and challenges across all farms when compared with other industries in the case of some indicators (e.g., time off). The results can support the continued extension of concepts regarding work organization to assist farms in alleviating social sustainability challenges, highlighting the differentiating factors between the most and least effective farmer workplaces.