News

DairyNZ on-farm survey of workforce productivity

Date: November 30, 2022

QCONZ has joined forces with DairyNZ to help deliver their ‘on-farm survey of workforce productivity.’

Our team will visit approximately 150 farms nationwide conducting a 60–90-minute survey with farm owners and managers by March 2023.

With many dairy farms short staffed, farmers are looking for strategies and tools to help them become more efficient and productive.  The survey is looking to better understand where time is spent on farm at key periods throughout the season. The ultimate goal of this project is to provide a national dataset to allow NZ dairy farmers to benchmark their workforce productivity and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and save time on farm.

To achieve this, participating farmers will be surveyed to help determine:

– How many hours per year it takes to run different farming system.

– Where farm teams are prioritising their hours during key periods of the year.

– Identify relationships between the total hours worked and the systems, management, and technology factors, to understand how they influence workforce productivity.

We are thrilled to be able to deliver this work for DairyNZ.  With an end goal of smarter systems, happier and healthier staff and cows, and improved productivity, this will be a win-win for all.

Other news

QCONZ had the opportunity to engage with industry representatives at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Wellington in July. This year, our team participated in the conference under the theme “From our Pasture to your Plate,” highlighting our ongoing involvement in the industry.

Fieldays 2024 was a fantastic opportunity to present our FreshWater Farm Plan (FWFP) tool and reconnect with our clients and wider industry stakeholders.

After an impressive 25-year’s, Murray Pedley, QCONZ’s Major Shareholder, Director, former Board Chair and CEO, has retired.

Murray had the privilege of attending the New Zealand Roundtable for Sustainable Beef’s annual conference and AGM in Christchurch in May.

Justin Moss and Josh Wheeler from QCONZ took a trip to Parliament in May to meet with Hon. Andrew Hoggard to discuss Freshwater Farm Plans (FWFPs). We were excited to share our learnings from the past few years.

Big news for New Zealand farmers! QCONZ is excited to share our new FreshWater Farm Plan Tool. It’s a digital helper that makes it easy for farmers to create their freshwater farm plans quickly.

In late October Chris Leach led an MPI dairy development training programme for farmers and extension officers in Pak Chong, Thailand. Pak Chong is the central region of Thailand, approximately a 2 ½ hour drive north of Bangkok, and is at the centre of the developing Thai Dairy Industry. 

We were thrilled to be a major sponsor of the New Zealand Association of Resource Management (NZARM) conference held in Christchurch in October.

We flew the QCONZ flag again this year at the annual Red Meat Sector Conference, jointly hosted by the Meat Industry Association and Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd.

As of 1 October, the QCONZ team will be delivering audits for the New Zealand Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP). We have been working hard behind the scenes to get systems and processes in place, and from August farmers can expect to start hearing from us regarding audit bookings.