Study to advance productive workplaces

• Published date: 23 January 2023
• Publication title: Bush Telegraph

DairyNZ senior scientist Dr Callum Eastwood says that, with one in three farms continuing to be short-staffed, many teams are looking for different strategies and tools to increase efficiency

“This Workforce Productivity study will provide a national dataset to allow New Zealand dairy farmers to benchmark their farm and look at how productive it is, including identifying ways to improve efficiency and save time,” Eastwood says.

DairyNZ, with delivery partner QCONZ, will conduct the on-farm Workforce Productivity survey this summer. The survey will be under way in early 2023 with around 150 dairy farms owners and managers nationwide.

“The study will look at the time requirements of dairy farm activities and priorities to better understand how systems, technology and management influence how productive our farm teams are,” Eastwood says.

“These farm activities include analysing time spent milking and herding cows, along with pasture assessment, calving and general day-to-day planning...