The mission

Historically, dairy workplace efficiency has been measured by looking at the number of cows, full-time workers, and kilograms of milksolids produced, or by milking-based metrics such as cows milked per person, per hour.

The Workplace Productivity Study was designed to look at productivity and workplace practices on a deeper level, examining how factors like different farm systems, farm size and technologies influence annual hours worked, seasonal hours and time spent on specific tasks.

DairyNZ and QCONZ surveyed 154 farms across New Zealand between November 2022 and March 2023.

Survey questions focused on:

• How many total hours per year it takes to run different farms
• Where farm teams spend hours during key periods of the year
• Relationships between hours worked and the systems, management and technology in place of different farms. 

Large range in hours worked

When looking into total hours worked across the season, there were a large range in hours worked between similar-sized farms. For example, one 500-cow farm was being run with around 5000 hours/year, while another 500-cow farm was being run with around 12,000 hours/year. This shows a potential opportunity for productivity gains.

The data also showed hours worked per cow per year is not influenced by kilograms of milksolids per cow (kg MS/cow), and that some farms are achieving a greater kg MS/cow/year without increasing the number of hours worked.

Where farmers save time

A task breakdown was used to identify where hours were being spent across the year per person. Again, our study showed big differences between similar-sized farms. For example, two 500-cow farms varied in time spent on animal care tasks, like calving, and work on a runoff block (see graph).

Data indicated that a greater level of shed automation (such as automated cup removers, automatic teat spray and automated drafting) was linked with fewer hours worked per person per week.

Total hours per day to run two 500-cow farms in the spring calving period

A dairy farm productivity benchmark to find opportunities

Data modelling was used to estimate the hours per week required to run farms with different herd sizes, so farmers have a benchmark to compare with their own farms.

Factors that influence the hours required to run a dairy farm:

• Technology, e.g. the use of collars for mating, ACRs for milking, robotic calf feeders
• Use of contractors for fertiliser spreading, fencing and other tasks to reduce hours worked by staff
• Milking frequency – once a day vs twice a day
• Managing a run-off block for bought-in feed or wintering
• Farm irrigation and irrigation type
• Farm topography – whether a farm is flat or steep
• Business structure – e.g. farm owners spending more time on compliance compared to contract milkers

What's next?

We’ll be analysing the dataset further to identify key drivers for improving workplace productivity.

The next actions are:

• Further analysis of the results to assess what farm practices and technologies influence productivity
• Refining the approach and collecting data from 100 more farms in 2023/2024

Check back here for updates on future research around workplace productivity.