Dairy Alliance Blog

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By Richard Stup

Many people are misinformed about the employment of immigrant (mainly Hispanic) farm workers in agriculture. In the dairy industry at least, Hispanic farm workers have almost exactly the same employment situations as their counterparts from the local population.

Myth #1: Immigrant farm workers are low paid. Farming is not a get-rich-quick scheme but dairy farm wages are competitive with many other industries. Cornell research from 2004 placed average cash wages for dairy workers at $7.51 in New York. An informal survey done in Pennsylvania… Read the rest of this entry »

by Richard Stup

Few Local Workers
Pennsylvania is a large and productive agricultural state. Many jobs are created in the agricultural industry that help to bring a wide variety of high-quality products to the market at very affordable prices. Unfortunately, too few residents of local communities are aware of farm employment opportunities or willing to take them. Advertisements for farm jobs in local newspapers and job banks go unanswered. Farm jobs have a mostly undeserved reputation in the public’s consciousness of being hard, dirty, and low-paying. True, the work is sometimes physically demanding, exposed to the outdoor environment, and sometimes you get dirty. On the other hand, the pay is usually quite competitive with other entry-level jobs, you’re not stuck inside all day, and you may perform a variety of tasks that are not found in other jobs. In the dairy industry, many jobs are very engaging, especially for people who enjoy working with animals.

Supply Meets Demand
In the last 5 to 10 years, immigrants from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries have discovered the great demand for farm employees in Pennsylvania. They come from places where wage rates are only about one tenth of what they can earn here. Farmers provide good wages typically ranging from $8 to $12 per hour in Pennsylvania and often including benefits such as housing and health care. Farmers indicate that Hispanic employees tend to be very dependable and hard-working. In the dairy business it is critically important to have a reliable workforce that shows up to milk the cows on time, this need is met by the Hispanic workforce. Thus the combination of farm employers finding a reliable workforce and employees finding lucrative and satisfying job opportunities is an almost irresistible attraction.

These are the primary reasons for the dramatic growth of the immigrant (mainly Hispanic) workforce in Pennsylvania.

You can read more about what motivates Hispanic immigration in this paper from the 2005 Conference on Managing the Hispanic Workforce.

By Richard Stup

One of the most common complaints from dairy producers today is that it is very difficult to find and keep good employees. This problem has led many people to turn to the Hispanic workforce as an alternative source of employees. While this option has worked for many people, it is an option that carries it’s own set of risks. These risks include: language barriers in the workplace and the likelihood that some of these workers are not legally eligible to work in the U.S.

The dairy industry is not alone in facing this problem. A March 4th article in the Centre Daily Times pointed out that the trucking industry faces similar problems with an annual driver turnover rate of over 100 percent. Their problem is exacerbated by the need for drivers to be away from home for extended periods of time and stagnant pay rates.

The dairy industry is facing a shortage of people to fill middle management jobs such as herdspersons and parlor managers. The public is largely unfamiliar with modern agriculture and unaware that there are job opportunities in the industry. The industry has always relied on recruiting kids who grew up on farms to study agriculture and return to the industry, unfortunately there aren’t enough of those kids anymore. It is time for the dairy industry to start presenting itself as a viable career option for people in the general public who might be interested. Dairy management jobs pay well, involve working with animals, and allow people to be home with their families at night. These are features and benefits of careers in agriculture that people need to learn about. In order to secure a sufficient workforce, the industry must do a better job of recruiting, training, and promoting employees.

The purpose of this blog is to share news, announcements and other related information. Visitors to this blog will find in-depth information about the Dairy Alliance at dairyalliance.psu.edu.