Ag Contractor Pre-Season Concerns

“They won’t have enough experience like the overseas guys we get and won’t have the passion for the work.”

“Finding someone who can operate a machine unsupervised.”

“Simply can not operate without skilled operators, we have no plan B.”

“Wanting to work. And take pride in there work, and not a steerer.”

“The stress of making sure we meet demand with inexperienced staff and the thought of having to knock Kiwi staff off and making my workplace feel like there on a pecking order when our season drys up.”

“Loss of income due to not being able to provide the required service to our clients when it is critically needed i.e Can’t plant/harvest crops on time.”

“Lack of highly skilled staff able to operate the machines safely which will mean machinery parked up and our clients who we have been servicing for over 25 years being let down.”

“Poaching of staff by offering higher rates of pay will occur.”

“Getting the experienced, skilled operators.”

“Being able to get work done without sufficient staffing level.”

“Without skilled workers overseas or local we do not have the ability to harvest our crops this summer.”

“If we are unable to hire experienced drivers, we will be unable to use our machinery efficiently. A single machine, like the stack tractor, can hold up the entire operation. We need to mow, and rake, and chop and cart grass, before it gets to the stack. If we don’t have a stack tractor that can safely operate, the other machinery stays in the shed. If we don’t efficiently plan our work, our farmers don’t get to reliably store their feed, essential for production, and insuring against very dry or very wet conditions. Everything we do is geared around getting through a large volume of work, during a short and unpredictable harvest window. To do this, without enough staff is challenging and potentially unsafe.”

“Not finding the right person for the job with relevant skills and them not committing to the work.”

“Running out of time before the season starts and not being able to fill the role.”

“Knowing we have people who have the required experience to provide our services to our customers.”

“Having access to good competent staff that can work unsupervised, complete the job efficiently and to a high standard without having to watch over them at all times.”

“Living in an isolated area and being able to find skilled staff.”

“The lack of experience in the field of operating agricultural machinery.”

“There are staff overseas that we can employ but it is getting them in to the county on the visas. Running out of time , 14 days isolation means we have to be sorting this out now and having the right information to hand about how we do it this year.”

“Keeping the small handful of experienced staff from last season who have been with us over winter as they’re being headhunted with huge $ on offer.”

“If we can’t get the job done in a timely manner, it then has a flow on effect on our farmers feed. Crap feed going into animals means they don’t produce as well, lower market prices, lower farmers income …. it’s a vicious circle.”

“We’ve searched for 6 seasons consecutively to find New Zealand workers to fill the roles our company offers. We’ve had 3 locals in that time apply for the positions. We have spent countless hours trying to train them, however, none of them could perform the jobs to a reasonable standard. Within just a few weeks they walked off the job never to be seen again.”

“No-one in New Zealand wants to put in long hours and spend their summers in loader/tractor cabs, even offering insane amounts of money, accommodation, personal use of vehicles etc can entice the kiwis to do this. If we don’t have staff come from overseas we won’t be able to fill our positions and we won’t be able to work. As we are sure this will be the case for many New Zealand contractors.”

“We need skilled staff to help us do a good job and keep our clients happy. Without them its not going to happen.”

“Making silage you get one chance. If its not done correctly the farmer can’t feed his cows that winter.”

“Some of these skills can take years to do it right and master and at a pace that makes it viable. If you go to slow, we lose money and we go under.”

“Finding reliable people who want to work and also lack of experienced staff”

“Getting the right person and not having an accident due to inexperience

. Big repair bills due to the breakage, then there is damage to client property.”

“Already got.”

“I am sure all contractors would love to be able to source all their seasonal staff from within NZ for the high skilled parts of their operations. The reality is that we just can’t get enough people for all the contracting companies in NZ this way. The other problem is that NZ citizens and residents normally require a year round position in order to survive. Due to the seasonal nature of our business we require more staff in the summer. People can’t survive on 6 months work each year and that’s why the overseas staff fit well as they are happy to come during their winter.”

“Timeliness of our services to farmer clients.

Cost of damaged machinery and lost productivity.

Loss of income.”

“People applying for positions will be doing so not by choice but merely as a stop gap. So not always the best option to have in a time sensitive industry. If all we offer is close enough , we may as well park up.”

“My concern is that we won’t be able to source overseas staff. If we have to use a lot of untrained people safety will be a major problem.”

“That we can’t find the skill set we require for our machines to be operated. Health & Safety of our staff with fatigue management etc.”

“6 weeks training in a veritable working environment isn’t enough. Almost dangerous to expect them to replace experience staff.”

“Crops will not get sown or harvested when required. With most contractors in the same boat, some will try and overwork staff to get things done which increases the risk of fatigue related accidents.”

“Willing to work. Passing the drug testing.”

“We are OK for the season.”

“Availability.”

“Having inexperienced staff would cause some huge health and safety concerns, not to mention not being able to manage workload.”

“Having operators going out to customers that have got very little experience.”

“The well being and safety of my permanent staff if I can’t find skilled operators.”

“The financial impact to my business would be massive if I can’t get skilled staff. Both from a efficiency point of view but the main impact will be damaged and breakages to my machines and the safety of people working around them. If I can’t get skilled workers I will go broke as I can’t handle big RM bills the loss of efficiency.”

“Having trainee workers with my machinery on the public roads worries me.”

“I think it’s great the 6 week training course and it will work for a slim number of positions. But we need skilled people at the top of our company’s operators so we can get the best out of the trainee operators.”

“Major concern is we work hard to keep our reputation, and it only takes 1 person to destroy it. We don’t want that one person.”

“Finding experienced staff.”

“Not having the staff when we need them so losing work to the opposition as we can’t get there.”

“Without overseas workers ours and a lot of other businesses around Southland and New Zealand will greatly suffer and it will lead to animal welfare issues.”

“Finding enough staff to fill key / all roles so we continue to offer a quality service.”

“Getting visas extended.”

“We have concerns for the safety of our existing workers. If we don’t find extra experienced workers it will put pressure on our guys. Our guys pride themselves on a skilled, efficient and safe job well done. If we don’t have enough staff, our guys will be pushing their limits to get the work done – which leads to a safety and welfare issue.”

“The biggest concern we have is having to operate our business at 50% capacity because we will not put our clients at risk of a poor job by employing people without the skills required.”

“The overseas workers seem to live and breathe silage , this is what they want to do, they follow the summer around the world just to keep working at silage contracting.”

“It’s the risk of putting these guys on tractors they often work remotely and on their on own. As a boss it sends your stress levels up considerably. There is also the fact when you’ve been driving 5+ years you know how to fix things. These guys will be very green. Could cost us lots of down time.”

“We can’t afford millions of dollars worth of gear sat in our yard due to not having drivers. There is no point in us putting someone on that machine that could hurt themselves or jeopardize our future with that client.”

“Some bills we send can be $250,000 each so they need to be perfect.”

“Availability of experience in the rural sector. Attitude towards the rural sector.”

“Not having enough experienced operators in the company. We can’t be overloaded with inexperienced staff and not enough staff that know what to do.”

“Locals are plentiful. But most only really have a simple and pretty basic ability to drive the machine that propels the impliment needed.”

“Putting inexperienced drivers in will create a lot of stress and damage gear, plus also putting our reputation on the line.”

“We need people to know how to use our machinery. It is a short season so we are not able to train them up as our peak season is for 4 months.”

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