These are descriptions of the positions available on our farm:
Our milkers work 8 hours divided by 2 shifts of each 4 hours. Milking is done inside a newly built modern facility. It requires a lot of standing, walking, good coordination and manual dexterity. The labour is repetitive and physically demanding. Safety precautions must be followed to avoid injury and following good animal hygiene practices are necessary to prevent the spread of diseases. Our barn is well ventilated and manure is flushed out regularly. Milkers may routinely lift items weighing up to 20 kilograms or more.
Required skills
- good health, physically fit and not allergic to grains, feed, animals, dust and milk
- ability to follow instructions and protocols.
- genuine interest in agriculture and a responsible caring attitude when working with our animals and equipment
- interact with co-workers in pleasant and civil matter
- flexibility and adaptability; when you are working with live cattle anything can happen so you always need to be ready for unforeseen happenings
- being able to detect and treat diseases during milking
Caretakers for calves come in the morning and afternoon. Two shifts with a break in between. Duties take place mostly inside the calf barn. The work is somewhat physically demanding with repetitive manual labour. Patience is a must; teaching calves how to drink from a bottle is not always easy.
Safety precautions must be followed to avoid injury when working with machinery and tools.
Required skills
- You need good health and be physically fit and not allergic to grains, feeds, animals, milk or dust.
- Passionate about dairy farming
- Have a caring and loving attitude towards young, vulnerable animals
- Be precise and detail oriented
- Like working with an established routine/fixed pattern
- Diligent and able to monitor animal behaviour
- Like to clean
- Be able to handle early morning shifts
- Computer savvy
Is somebody that needs to be physically fit and have an eye for the well being of cattle. This person needs to be able to:
Required skills
- operate and maintain all kinds of equipment: bobcat – tractor – loaders
- interpret diets
- to be able to calculate feeding sheets
- understand different ingredients
- adjust rations to need
- to determine dry matters of ingredients
- maintain equipment and do more than basic repairs
Is somebody that has to be able to work in all three above mentioned job descriptions. It’s a skilled worker that has experience in milking, feeding and calf care. This worker knows the routine of a dairy farm and has proven credentials and experience. Besides the skills already mentioned before they should also be able to perform the following duties:
Required skills
- Monitor health and well being of the dairy herd; recognize and treat health problems
- ensure water is available and the cows are fed the correct amount and type of feed
- milk cows
- assist in births
- assist in implementation of a vaccine program and herd health
- assist in the manipulation of rations to match nutrition requirements of livestock
- knowledge of dairy cattle record keeping procedures (DHI, CQM, registration, etc)
- knowledge and rudimentary service of milking equipment
- interact with external farm service personnel
- maintain equipment and do basic repairs
- keep paper and electronic records
- transport feed and supplies
- operate and maintain farm equipment
- Agriculture education is preferred
