By Claire Ellery, Lincoln University
Future employment needs of New Zealand's dairy farming sector are being investigated by Lincoln University in research funded by the University and Dairy InSight Incorporated, an organisation established by the dairy industry to fund and coordinate industry-good activities.
The research contract was awarded to Dr Rupert Tipples, Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations at Lincoln University, and the project should be finished by the end of February. The $22,000 Dairy InSight funding is the first significant contract that the organisation has awarded to Lincoln University.
Dairy InSight is responsible for coordinating and funding industry-good activities on behalf of its members, who are levy-paying dairy farm owners and sharemilkers. Dairy InSight's mission is "to secure and enhance dairy farming in New Zealand" and its primary focus is to make dairy farming more profitable and sustainable.
The funding towards Dr Tipples project is an example of Dairy InSight's research, educational and promotional work aimed at ensuring the continued vitality of the dairy workforce. A strong, vital workforce is seen as critical to the industry's future success.
The research is addressing possible shortages in the dairy farming labour force, heightened by steadily declining numbers of young workers and New Zealand's aging population.
Dr Tipples aims to estimate what the future labour needs of the dairy farming sector will be. The work will also look at what the labour input available is likely to be and then match the labour requirements with the labour availability.
The Human Capability Framework (HCF) is the model that Dr Tipples will use to address the factors influencing future labour supply and demand and the matching of the two.
Matching employment needs with the labour capacity available, the project will explore options that may be useful to counter any future difficulties with labour shortages. Two ideas, among others, to be explored are the employment and social effects of automated milking systems and the option of swapping twice daily milking for a once-a-day routine. The economic and social implications of each for New Zealand will be explored.
For the research to be of maximum advantage to dairy farmers, Dr Tipples is asking representative groups about their views on the significance of these issues. He hopes to establish the employment research needs of representative groups such as Federated Farmers of New Zealand, Dexcel and dairy companies. The project is intended to be guided by industry input. A questionnaire is being sent to the CEOs of the relevant industry bodies.
For further information contact
Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury
Tel: (03) 3252811 ext 8549.
Email: Ian Collins