Managing Human Resources
on Farms:
Lessons Learned During Six
Years of Assessment and
Programming
Vera Bitsch
Michigan State University
Joint Research & Extension
Projects
Contacts, partners
 Focus group discussions
 Case studies
 Workshops
 Review, publications

Focus Groups

Number of meetings




5 in horticulture
4 in dairy
4+2 in pork
Number of participants/meeting



8 in horticulture groups
5.5 in dairy groups
4 in pork groups
Case Studies


Spring 2003 in Michigan
Site visits, multiple interviews
per operation




6 dairy farms
6 tree nurseries
4 greenhouse growers
4 landscape operations
Farm Sizes of Participants

Hort industry
 Gross
sales $100k-$70 mil.
 Largest: 1,600 people

Dairy industry
 Milk
sales $400k-$14 mil.
 Largest: 55 people

Pork industry
 Gross
revenue $980K-35 mil.
 Largest: 110 people
Summary of Assessment Results
Differences, commonalities
 Small producers, contractors
little interest
 Senior managers
 Middle managers
 Perception of training needs

Top Topics Based on Pork Groups

Performance mgt
 Info
#, goal setting, meetings,
peer pressure
 Employees with baggage, lack
of communication

Compensation
 Competitive
wages, benefits,
perks, defined bonus
 Unclear system, lack of
benefits, wage ceilings
Important Topics

Recruitment
 Through
networks, using
services, hire extra
 Entry level hiring, location

Training
 Patience,

hands-on, varied,
safety training
Working conditions
 Job
matching, rotation
 Farm hours, flat orgs
Other Topics

Selection
 Criteria,
tools
 Pressure to hire

Immigrant or foreign employees
 Willing,
able workforce
 Lack of communication, conflict

Discipline
 Coaching,
formal process
 Not using a process
Other Topics Cont.

Performance evaluation
 Clear
communication, formal
 Not explicit, ambiguous

Social environment
 Flex.
team assignmts, meetings
 Disrespect by coworkers

Labor laws
 Use
specialists, knowledge
 Concerns, critique
Example: Pork Manager Workshop
>Advertising vs. content; recruiting
 Selection
 Training
 Evaluation
 Compensation
 Conflict management
 Discipline and termination
 Communication
 Motivation
Pork Workshop Participants &
Evaluation




KS: 19 participants
MI: 27 participants
Overall rating: 7.9 out of 10
Issues


Location, time, duration
Speakers, costs
Survey vs. in-depth
>Evaluation data; realism

Thanks to




North Central Risk Management
Education Center
Michigan Risk Partnership
Project GREEEN at MSU
S. Harsh & S. Fogleman for
moderating focus groups, &
many other team members at
MSU and beyond for their
contributions
Related Publications
Bitsch, V. and E. Yakura. Middle management in agriculture: Roles, functions, and practices.
International Food and Agribusiness Management Review (in print).
Bitsch, V. and N.J. Olynk. Skills required of managers in livestock production: Evidence from
focus group research. Review of Agricultural Economics (in print).
Bitsch, V. and N.J. Olynk. Risk-increasing and risk-reducing practices in human resource
management: Focus group discussions with Livestock Managers. Journal of Agricultural and
Applied Economics (in print).
Bitsch, V et al. 2006. Human resource management risks: Sources and control strategies based
on dairy farmer focus groups. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 38 (April, 1),
123-36.
Bitsch, V. and M. Hogberg 2005. Exploring horticultural employees’ attitudes towards their jobs: A
qualitative analysis based on Herzberg’s theory of job satisfaction. Journal of Agricultural and
Applied Economics 37, 3 (3, December), 659-71.
Mugera, A.W. and V. Bitsch 2005. Labor on dairy farms: A resource-based perspective with
evidence from case studies. International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 8 (3,
July), 79-98.
Bitsch, V. and S.B. Harsh 2004. Labor risk attributes in the green industry: Business owners’ and
managers’ perspectives. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics 36 (3, December),
731-745.
Additional Material

www.msu.edu/user/bitsch

Reed, S. and V. Bitsch 2006. Labor laws and
Michigan agriculture. Michigan State University
Extension Bulletin E2966.
(http://web2.msue.msu.edu/bulletins/viewitem.cf
m?INVKEY=E2966).
Workshop presentations are available at the
National Ag Risk Education Library
(http://www.agrisk.umn.edu/).
Additional materials are available from the author.
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