Photo: DairyNZFinding good staff continues to be a real issue for dairy farmers, DairyNZ Southland/South Otago regional manager Richard Kyte says. ''Amongst other tasks in addition to calving, farmers will also be juggling milking, moving dry stock, raising calves and managing pasture.'' While DairyNZ, along with Venture Southland, was trying to combat the shortage of staff in the sector, more changes to immigration earlier this year were making it even harder to find and retain good staff, Mr Kyte said. Under these, some dairy staff are classified as lower-skilled, which means unless they are paid as much as $35.24 an hour, they will be on a yearly review. DairyNZ had also begun conversations with Work and Income New Zealand to get a better fit for farmers with the clients they were offering, Mr Kyte said.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 20, 2017 05:15 UTC