HIGHLAND, N.Y. — The Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Team is offering a four workshop series in March for growers who own a farm or for farm managers looking to increase their skills. Good to Great in Ag Labor Management will cover HR skills like setting appropriate pay, benefit and incentive programs, hiring, training and firing employees, NYS and federal Ag Labor regulations, safety and training programs and motivating and incentivizing your workforce. The program starts on March 1 from 5-7:30 at the Highland Lab, 3357 US Hwy 9W, Highland, NY 12528 and runs for the next three Thursdays. The first three programs are in the evening, but the last session, on March 22, runs from 1:00 to 4:00.
According to Elizabeth Higgins, Ag Business Management Specialist for the Eastern NY Team, this program grew out of a recognition that farmers, like many small business owners, are often thrown into management positions, but do not have the support or training in employee management that other business leaders receive. Although many find their way and become excellent managers, the cost of labor and labor shortages in agriculture make this model incredibly inefficient. “We focus a lot on managing all of the other inputs related to farm profitability, but have tended to ignore the factor that is 40-60% of the cost of production – labor” said Higgins. “This program is intended to help bring some of the best practices in HR management to agriculture”.
Interested farmers can register for just one session for $20 or sign up for the full 4-session workshop for only $60. Registration is available at the Eastern NY Commercial Hort Team website, https://enych.cce.cornell.edu, or contact Abigail Henderson 518-746-2553, aef225@cornell.edu.
March 1 – Marketing your farm as a great place to work: Developing employee handbooks and policies. (5:00-7:30pm)
March 8 – What’s My Job? Hiring, training and evaluating employees effectively (5:00-7:30pm)
March 15 – Keeping good staff when money is tight & managing conflict in the workplace (5:00-7:30pm)
March 22 – The compliance and safety workshop. Are you managing your risks as an employer? (1:00pm-4:00pm)
–Cornell Cooperative Extension