Polish workers step in to plug dairy skills gap – milking cows
Last updated 09:35, Friday, 06 June 2008
A small army of Polish workers are milking Cumbria’s cows as farmers desperately try to plug a skills gap.
An estimated 200 Poles are already helping out on dairy farms, more than 30 of them in the Longtown area alone.
County farmers can’t find British workers who are prepared to work the long hours and shift work demanded in the industry.
But farmers are struggling to communicate with their Eastern European workers, which in some cases is causing poor herd health.
Now, in response to requests from clients, Border Vets is running a one-day training course for the Polish workers in their native language – the first of its kind in the UK.
It will be held at the Auctioneer in Carlisle on June 16 and will focus on the strict routine that is needed to maintain healthy udders and prevent mastitis in cattle.
Charlie Foster, from Border Vets, said: “On the larger units, I would say that Polish workers are now outnumbering British workers.
“On a modern dairy farm, a herdsman is a lot more than an agricultural labourer. It is a technical job. If there is not the attention to detail then things can go downhill.”
He said the gradual decline in staff numbers on farms and increased herd sizes have also contributed to a general fall in herd health.
Mr Foster added: “Twenty years ago, cows were treated as individuals but now farmers are thinking on a herd basis.
“There is less time to dedicate to individual animals. They have to fit the system and it is no good to a farmer if an animal becomes recurrently lame.”
Pawel Kawecki, 24, started work at Dykehead, Blackford, in November with little English or experience. He couldn’t make enough money as a roofer in Poland, so moved to England. He intends to stay for five years and make enough money to set himself up back home.
In the meantime, he lives in a caravan on the farm and works 11-hour shifts, seven days a week.
He said: “In Poland, farming is hard work – here it is ok. I came here to make money and I’m learning more.”
His brother works near Liverpool on a lettuce farm.
Alex Forbes, of Dykehead, said: “I don’t always explain everything behind what we do to Pawel. It tends to make it harder for him because he can’t understand.”
On the neighbouring farm of Keysmount, Eric Halliwell, started employing Polish workers almost three years ago to help milk his 200-strong herd. He said: “We could not get English workers, as soon as you mention 5.30am, they don’t want to know.
“The language is a barrier, you need to use a lot of sign language. Our biggest difficulty is explaining about medicine.
“If the wrong medicine makes it into the milk tank, instead of getting 26p a litre, you get one pence.”
The day-long course costs £20 and will include lunch, leaflets in Polish, a free mastitis test kit, and a certificate.
Ring 01228 792999 to book a place.
