With the focus on the Howard Government's WorkChoices legislation, it could be easy to forget that labour issues are far broader than just industrial relations.
For a long time the National Farmers Federation has been a strong and vocal supporter of industrial relations reform. It supports the current changes. But it's refreshing to see the federation come out recently with a report on labour in the farming sector that takes a broader perspective.
The NFF Labour Shortage Action Plan details how labour supply problems are so severe as to be constraining production. Crops are not grown and markets are not being tapped. But rather than complaining that government should supply the fix, the NFF says the answers sit mostly with farmers. This is unusual. Industry associations usually lobby for government handouts.
It's important to appreciate that farming has changed massively in the past 15 years or so. The number of farms has dropped from about 150,000 to around 130,000 under the mantra of get big or get out.
If farms haven't become big they are often in trouble. The potato farmers in Tasmania who lost their McDonald's contracts this year needed to create economies of scale and embrace new technology or competitors would win. They stayed small and on average have only been grossing incomes of around $30,000 a year. This is unsustainable, almost subsistence poverty farming where they can't service customers properly.
Technology has exploded. For example, ploughing of fields is now frequently automated and satellite directed, resulting in millimetre precision. This is dovetailed with high-tech knowledge of soil compositions and water retention capacities. Variances are plotted down to minute degrees. It's high science producing big yield increases.
Unfortunately, however, according to the NFF, a big factor causing the labour shortages is a misperception of farming jobs. Many people think that career opportunities don't exist and work is low paid, manual drudgery. But the reality is different. The need, particularly with the big and expanding farm conglomerates, is for highly trained technicians to handle and develop computer and engineering-driven technology. Creative application of advanced science is in demand.
This has resulted in career opportunities that are being missed by young professionals. And the world of self-employment, always strong in farming, is expanding quickly into these new areas. It's boom time for practical entrepreneurs.
On the negative side, the NFF recognises that perceptions of unsafe work practices are supported by the facts. Farmers are killing and injuring themselves and their staff at much higher rates than in any other industry. The NFF says this must stop, and is gearing for a farmer-led turnaround in work safety as top priority. But potential workers will remain sceptical until there are results.
The NFF also says there is no such thing as an unskilled job. This particularly applies to the unfilled demand for fruit and other crop picking.
The NFF says picking jobs need to be filled by backpackers and special visa-entry workers, but only alongside those who make good permanent living travelling from seasonal crop to crop. But to succeed, farmers must approach human-resource management professionally.
One example is a large family-run fruit farm that was struggling for seasonal pickers. The family invested in upgrading accommodation. They developed a website giving virtual tours of accommodation and the farm. They bought a minibus to shuttle pickers to and from the nearest large town for shopping and recreation. They conducted pre-work training on safety and how to pick to maximise income.
In short, they realised that they were the problem. They became professional in their approach to human resources. Their labour shortage is over. In fact they are sought after as a preferred work location. And with free accommodation and no transport costs, net financial returns for pickers better many city jobs.
The NFF has done itself and the farming sector a favour. Sure, it has pointed out areas where government needs to play a role, for instance in assistance with the farm work-safety campaign. But the NFF's central thrust is to say that most solutions to farmers' labour problems are in their own paddocks. It's up to farmers to take the same professional approach to human resources as they take to farming technology.
It's a self-analysis that needs to apply across all industries in Australia.
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