How to survive starting a new pig farm

In this article we will talk about how to start a farm from the point of view of human resources. We will not talk about breeding plans, nor about breeding systems, nor about preparation for farrowing; here we will deal simply and plainly with how and where to look for people, how to organize them and, as the title says, not to die in the process....

There are several ways to start a farm at the level of human resources, so I will focus mainly on my last experience.

We are talking about a 3000 sow farm including the nursery for which I have considered that I need 12 workers, including myself.

Step one: Decide if we are looking for personnel with or without experience

In my case I prefer to hire people whose closest pig experience had been Porky the cartoon or cooking pork chops.

According to what criteria? Well, in my case it's easy:

1. I have dedicated most of my life to training people (although I understand that anyone who is leading a farm will have a good deal of experience).
2. Under no circumstances am I going to look for people at other farms, mainly for ethical reasons.
3. An experienced worker brings many good things, but also carries acquired bad habits (..and for that, I already have my own).

Step two: Where do I look for personnel?

• We can look for them on specialized sites (like this one). In fact, I've hired people and done some job interviews online.
• References from friends and/or neighbors.
• From the nearby towns close to the operation.

In my case, I focused mainly on showing the advantages of our operation with respect to my competitors in the region. By competitors I do not mean other swine farms but the companies that provide jobs in the region. I started by putting up posters in the towns closest to the farm and gradually extended the range.

Once I started with the interviews I took the following into account as the main criteria:

• Language: I have always given this a lot of importance; I have worked with people of different languages and cultures (Maghribians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Italians, Brazilians), some of them excellent workers. In my opinion, communication is a fundamental pillar for teamwork (it is the basis of my work system). Lack of fluent communication can only lead to marginalization.
• Attitude: This is another key. We can interview the most qualified person in the area, but skills are learned, while attitudes are held.
• Extra knowledge: I've said before that I don't look for people with experience in the swine industry and that I value attitude more than aptitude, but that doesn't mean that we look for ignorant or uneducated people. Nothing is further from the truth; I think that concepts or studies of plumbing, electricity, welding, etc... are very practical on a farm, since this guarantees us a wider vision..
• Age: Although it is not a determining factor, I try to keep the age profile within some kind of range, in order to facilitate the connection between people. If we have similar ages we have similar problems and concerns.
• Sex: Even at the risk of being wrote off as sexist, in this specific case I have hired all male staff. I have worked with women for many years and I can unashamedly assure you that in many cases they are better workers than men (and not only in the farrowing area). Sometimes, mixed gender staff can add a level of complexity to human resources management.

Job interviews

I must say that as an interviewer I am probably a disaster. The interview itself, was more focused on explaining to the interviewee the strengths and weaknesses of our company, than on listening to their experiences. Why? Well, mainly because I was looking for inexperienced staff to model to my liking, so I mainly valued their level of attention, whether they asked questions related to the industry or not, whether they were proactive etc.

I also think that it is important to explain, in general terms, what we expect from them, what shifts they are going to find, what their work schedule is going to be (the real one), the salary (the real one, that is, the approximate net one), vacations, the shift changes, the task rotations, etc.

How to try to build staff loyalty

I think anyone who knows me, or has worked with me, will have heard me say that the key to a well-functioning farm is very simple, the key is the personnel.

If we achieve a high level of staff loyalty, we have a good chance of making our farm work. Farms with a high turnover of personnel will hardly reach their optimal production. On the contrary, farms with a low turnover may take more or less time depending on the work plan, but they will end up getting an optimal performance.

Now, this loyalty must be accompanied by something very important, at least for me: commitment.

How can we reach these goals?

• Sincerity (deliver what is promised).
• Empathy (understand other's problems, putting ourselves in their shoes).
• Know how to listen, not just hear (truly difficult).
• Be adaptable (many times what we want has nothing to do with what we have).
• Transparency, This is perhaps where I am most unconventional as I am in favor of handing out the payroll in public, so that we all know what we are earning. This helps with the issue of sincerity, since everyone can see that what I have said is true. If someone has a better salary, it is because they deserve it and it is more or less agreed upon. It is true that it can create some tension, which is not easy to manage, but I can assure you that anything other than going with the truth in mind sooner or later produces conflicts and consequences that can be clearly greater and more serious.
• Good management of work times
• Be demanding. Perhaps seeking excellence is demanding too much, but to achieve good loyalty and commitment, we must be demanding in both directions, with ourselves and our principles, but also with what we expect from others.
• And lastly, PATIENCE, a lot of patience. This is a long road, full of mistakes, misunderstandings, and conflicts. Let us make them more bearable, otherwise perhaps we will end up walking the road alone or not accompanied at all and the interesting thing is to share it, because in addition to being more bearable, we will go further.