Take Control of Your Time - The Challenge is Yours

Step 1 - Where is Your Time Going?

The crucial first step is to keep a weekly time sheet. Do this for four typical weeks during the year, one each in spring, summer, autumn and winter. A sample timesheet is outlined in Appendix 1 page 16. The completed timesheet will enable you to assess how your work time is being spent.

When a timesheet is completed, answer the following questions.

Could work time have been saved?

Answer: ___________________________________________________________

Was the work well organised in advance?

Answer: ___________________________________________________________

Were there avoidable holdups or breakages?

Answer: ___________________________________________________________

Could time have been saved by changing the work system, facilities or enterprise mix?

Answer: ___________________________________________________________

Was adequate attention given to safety?

Answer: ___________________________________________________________

Step 2 - Plan the Use of Your Time

This involves getting the balance right between operating and managing. Your aim is to minimise the amount of work time you spend on unimportant tasks.

Set Goals Regarding Labour Use

You can only plan the future use of your time.

Step 3 - Save Time at Work

• Spend most of your time on tasks, which help to achieve your objectives. Spend as little time as possible on work that is not important.
• Concentrate on doing one task at a time. Avoid interruptions. If tasks are left unfinished they take longer to complete later.
• When working keep communications short and to the point. Casual callers should not interfere with important work. Use communications technology - phones, email/web to save your time.
• Keep up-to-date with maintenance work, it will save you time and cut costs in the long run.
• Plan your finishing time, this will give you a deadline on getting tasks completed.

Step 4 - Reduce Your Workload

Your don't have to do all the work yourself! If you can't comfortably fit your work into an eight-hour day or if you want to work off-farm, shedding work should be considered. What is important is that the work gets done effectively, not who does it.

Labour saving solutions will vary from farm to farm as each farm has different enterprises and possibilities. For example, having one livestock system rather than several cuts workload and gives a clear and predictable workload pattern. It also simplifies decision-making and allows another person to substitute for you if required.

• Can you make more use of contractors or change machinery available to cut workload?
• Can your farm buildings or farm layout be modified to reduce workload?
• Can you get other persons to do some of the routine farm work, e.g. relief workers?
• Would a farm partnership work in your situation?

Freeing up time could allow you more time to plan and develop your business or it could allow you to improve your income by taking up an off-farm job.

Dairy Farms

The Moorepark Labour Use Study (Table 1) shows wide variation in total labour input on similar size farms. For example, on farms with less that 250,000 litres quota, labour input varied from an average of 3.9 hours per day on the low labour use farms up to an average of 14.3 hours per day on the high labour use farms. This strongly suggests potential to improve labour use on many dairy farms, particularly in the spring months when workload peaks.

Table 1. Average total labour input per farm per day by quota category

Milking and herding of cows to and from the fields accounts for 34 per cent of labour use throughout the year. Cow and calf care accounts for 16 per cent of work time in Spring. Feeding stock and cleaning yards are also big users of time. To reduce workload it is necessary to focus on the facilities and practices in these areas.

Targets to aim for:

Cattle Farms

Standard labour requirements suggest that at least 90 livestock units can be managed by one person. More recent labour monitoring on suckler farms, with modern facilities, suggests that over 70 livestock units can be managed with less than twenty hours labour per week (Table 2).

Table 2 - Labour monitoring of suckler farms

The key to operating a labour efficient drystock farm is to have a clearly defined system (suckling, calf to beef, etc) where labour use is predictable.

• Well-designed housing and farm facilities are crucial to reducing labour use. A slatted shed with access to calving facilities and a calf creep area controls labour use in suckling.
• Putting the silage in place at several day intervals can reduce the amount of labour used feeding silage. Early turnout of stock reduces labour use in spring.
• A high number (10-15) of divisions gives control of grazing. Good fencing and an internal roadway allows one person to move and control stock.
• Easy access to a handling unit reduces the labour used when treating or testing stock.

Sheep Farms

Labour use per ewe on sheep farms ranges from 5.3 hours/ewe on the one-third low labour use farms to 10.5 hours/ewe on the one-third high labour use farms (Table 3). The results of the survey, carried out by the Teagasc Sheep Research Centre, Athenry, also shows that the low labour use farms had the best technical performance.

Table 3: - Labour use and technical performance on sheep farms

Lambing, feeding/forage production, herding and husbandry account for almost two thirds of the total labour input on sheep farms.

Labour use is controllable when there is a distinct sheep system, chosen to suit farm requirements. Purpose designed housing and mechanical feeding greatly reduce labour requirements when sheep are indoors. Outdoor sheep systems can also be designed to be labour efficient.

Good handling facilities are essential for effective labour use. These should be located close to the grazing area. Internal sheep `driveways' and a sheep dog allow one person to move sheep and can save a lot of time on sheep farms.

Labour associated with husbandry tasks such as dosing and foot care can be minimised by having a good preventative programme. Over shepherding does not result in better technical performance.

Tillage Farms

Data on labour use and machinery costings from Oakpark Research Centre clearly show the benefits of scale on labour use and machinery costs on tillage farms. Both machinery operating time and machinery and labour costs per hectare decline as scale increases. The use of high capacity machines also allows for simplification of labour and machinery systems by having a lower number of units.

A range of mechanisation options, which allow the benefits of scale and reduced labour inputs are available. Arrangements under which one person provides all the management input include short and long-term leasing, ownership and share farming. Share farming is where one farmer provides the machinery and expertise while the landowner still remains actively involved and eligible for REPS. Profits are shared.

Arrangements having more than one party involved in the management of the farm business include full farm partnerships, machinery partnerships, interfarm contracting, participating in a machinery ring or contracting. These arrangements may allow the landowner to participate in REPS.

Current Situation

Main Problem Areas Identified

Key Changes to be Implemented

Weekly `To Do' List

1. List jobs to be done this week. Do not include routine jobs which must be done, e.g. milking/feeding.
2. Prioritise each activity as an A, B, C or D
   1. must do this week
   2. should do this week
   3. could do this week
   4. delegate - get somebody else to do it (e.g. contractor/hired worker/service)
3. Start working on the A's - no more than 3 A's
4. Review, reprioritise or redo the list before the start of next week

Mark jobs with highlighter when completed

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Week Commencing: ___________________________