Earning the Trust of Hispanic Dairy Employees

Currently, it is a challenge to find people willing to work on dairy farms. Long hours, hard conditions, and low salaries are some of the main causes behind this problem. However, Hispanic immigrants are still taking these jobs and have become a predominant group on American dairy farms. It has been estimated that 41 to 50% of U.S. dairy farms depend on Spanish-speaking foreign labor (Baker and Chapelle, 2012). This a clear indication that this group is an important asset of the dairy industry, but unfortunately their availability is decreasing every day. Several farms are struggling to keep their employees, and the cost of turnover is high in many cases. Besides offering better work conditions and salaries, what else can be done to make sure that Spanish-speaking employees stay working on the farm?

For a long time, immigrants have been an important part of agriculture in the U.S. They are the main workforce that is ensuring we have a constant food supply. Although we are aware that without them our food production can be compromised, very little to nothing has been achieved to help this community regulate their immigration status. Many attempts to provide a secure and easy way to hire these people have failed. And there are not big hopes that this can be fixed soon. Meanwhile, farmers across America are having a hard time retaining and hiring employees. The labor situation is even more difficult for dairy farmers, since it is a year-long activity and cows need to be milked at least twice daily.

In order to attract new employees, many producers have improved work conditions, provided housing, and increased wages. These strategies have indeed helped farmers to retain and hire Hispanic employees, but results perhaps are not always as expected. There are cases where even though the salary is very attractive, they are still not able to find someone to do the job. The big question is what else needs to be done to attract new employees and retain the good members? Like any other job site, the work environment can play a key role in the retention of employees and dairy farms are no exception. Having a friendly, trusted work environment can make the difference. Developing a truthful relationship with Hispanic employees will take time, patience, and commitment.

My own experience with Hispanic employees

After living and working with 8 Mexican immigrants on a 600-cow dairy farm in Wisconsin for approximately 2 years, I learned that trust is something you earn. As the newest and youngest member of the team, I was not completely welcomed at the beginning. However, this changed over the course of the following months. Little by little they started to trust me and vice versa.

Being the only bilingual employee at the farm was very advantageous. Communicating in our own language was a key component to developing a healthy work relationship. Since I had a supervisor role, I was able to train and give feedback that subsequently was translated into better performance. For instance, when we had a high incidence of metritis, I explained how and when calving cows need to be assisted. This eventually helped to decrease the incidence rate of this disease. Studies evaluating training programs on calving practices have determined that Spanish-speaking dairy employees responded well to training when it was conducted in their own language (Schunemann et al., 2013). This proves that having brief meetings and training sessions with Hispanic employees in their own language may be beneficial for the farm. Furthermore, these practices can help to create a sense of “belonging" that is a key component of a healthy work environment.

In addition to work activities, I had to complete some other non-work-related activities that helped to build a stronger bond with the Mexican employees. For example, taking them to the store to send money to Mexico, completing forms that were in English, and explaining to the English-speaking attendants that we (Hispanics) have two last names and that both need to be added in the form otherwise the money would not be delivered in Mexico, were a few of the frequent activities. Taking them to the doctor's office was another extra-curricular task I had to do for them. Sometimes these activities were inconvenient, as I had to stop working or take some of my time off to help them. However, this was very important for them and therefore they were a priority for me. This showed them that I cared about them and that is how I earned their trust and respect, which then led to better communication flow.

Producers do not expect to do these kinds of activities for their English-speaking employees. However, this is a cultural lag that needs to be considered when working with Spanish-speaking employees. Based on my personal experience, I can tell that this really pays off. The farm where I worked in Wisconsin still had almost all of the original staff members when I left. Even though I had a huge language advantage, producers can still achieve similar results by using interpreters, on-line resources, Extension programs, and consultants. Offering feedback and training in their own language has proven to be an effective method to improve the health and well being of the cows. These practices may improve your bottom line, but they also will help to boost the enthusiasm of your Hispanic employees.

References

Baker, D., and D. Chappelle. 2012. Health status and needs of Latino dairy farm workers in Vermont. J. Agromedicine. 17:277-287.

Schuenemann, G., S. Bas, E. Gordon, and J. Workman. 2013. Dairy calving management: Description and assessment of a training program for dairy personnel. J. Dairy Sci. 96:2671-2680.