Farm labour help is becoming harder to get because in most instances it is seasonal work, but teaching the younger people has become easier with the GPS systems taking over much of the guess work.
Yet Kevin Hursh in this piece says there’s an organization that is conducting research on labor needs across this country. Is this the thin edge of the wedge of unionizing farm employee’s? Tell me what you think.;
An organization called the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council wants to hear from small-scale farm operators across Canada regarding their labour needs, whether they are farming full-time or part-time, alone or with help.
The council is currently conducting research on the labour requirements of farm operations with annual gross receipts of less than $100,000. Statistically farms under $100,000 gross make up 65 per cent of all the farms in Canada.
It’s an online survey and the deadline to receive responses has been extended until the end of September to receive a greater number of responses from each region across the country. The Council plans to use the information to better understand the labour needs on small-scale farms and to develop tools and resources to meet those needs.
I suspect they’ll find out that small-scale producers can’t afford to hire labour or if someone is hired it’s only on a part time basis in a peak season.
The Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council isn’t fixated on small operations. They’ve already done a survey and a lot of work on operations with gross returns greater than $100,000, so this is a logical extension of their work.
To take the survey or to see the work they’ve already done, go to www.cahrc-ccrha.ca.
About Harry Siemens
Harry's Bio - On the Edge with Siemens Says
Communicator extraordinaire Harry Siemens interacts with his vast agricultural audience through speaking, writing, and commentating. He creates an awareness of what’s happening in agriculture as an advocate of the farmer, and provides a rare edge, never afraid to express his own informed opinion. With his 41 years plus of experience, people respect, and trust him to provide always the most relevant and current farm information.
Harry Siemens comments on the news, motivates, gives his own opinions to the public everyday, as an independent farm communicator and farmer advocate through various media outlets.
As a motivational speaker, Harry can deliver a new speech everyday, taking any information and adapting it to the right situation. He integrates the current farm issues with motivation, and humour. He speaks to audiences ranging from the AGM of the U.S. Grains Council in Montreal to the local Farmers Marketing Club in Plum Coulee, MB or Sunhaven Farms in Kinsella, Alberta and many in between.
Harry Siemens, the journalist, is always on top of things, hearing it first, and then giving the news spiced with personal commentary. Along with his up-to-date website and e-newsletter FarmWatch, he writes for various publications across Western Canada and the U.S., including the AgriPost, Prairie Hog Country, and Western Dairy Farmer.
He also writes for hire, which goes back to adapting any information to any audience or situation.
Harry Siemens, the commentator, gives you more than the story. He provides the story with his own opinion and from a perspective on how it will affect the reader and/or listener directly
In the United States Harry appears regularly with Max Armstrong and Orion Samuelson on ‘This Week in Agribusiness’ seen and heard weekends on the RFD-TV Network giving the Canadian perspective. He works closely with Lynn Ketelson and Linda Brekke to share the issues that face producers in Canada on the Linder Farm Network heard on over 40 radio stations in Minnesota. Ratings show this to be the most listened to half-hour farm broadcast in the United States.
Harry Siemens, the communicator, integrates speaking, writing, and commentating, giving a clear picture of the big and small issues in layman’s terms. He reaches his audience through the ‘Net [SiemensSays.com] print, one on one, or on the radio, able to express his opinion, and keep everything fresh by Staying on the Edge.
