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<blockquote data-quote="J and L" data-source="post: 187234" data-attributes="member: 3494"><p>Hi</p><p>Linda here, Jerry thought I would be better able to answer you questions.. I'm also a much faster typist than he is LOL</p><p></p><p>First some basics: We milk at 6:00 AM, 1:30 PM and 9:30 PM. Our tank isn't large enough so our hauler takes out one load before the morning milking and a second one after it finishes. Prior to that "problem" we started at 5:30. Times were picked so I could keep contact with all shifts and still get a night's sleep. </p><p></p><p>Our milkers average about 30 shifts each month so all work some doubles. We have a couple of guys who will put in 38-42, but the rule is that if you are lead milker one shift you are scraper the next. We suggested alternating who scraped by pens but the milkers prefer to mostly scrape or mostly milk, especially in cold weather because it makes dressing appropriately easier. Schedules are out a week in advance-- we get away with this because as for most employees work and English class are their only regular committments. Employees find their own trades and must notify the herdsman or me for confirmation. All shifts must have at least on qualified lead milker.</p><p></p><p>All new hires start as just milking assistants with a straight wage. Within 60 days I expect them to learn to handle the parlor alone. At 60 days they are eligible for our milkers bonus. We use a formula I developed based on our plant bonus and my desire to have the cell count under 200. The bonus only pays down to 150 SCC-- this encourages a balance between volume and SCC. (anyone can have a 50 cell count if they keep enough cows out of the tank lol) The lowest bonus we've paid was $.02 per milking (THAT woke them up!!) and the most about $7.40 per milking. If anything happens that causes milk to be dumped the bonus pays for the milk before paying out. Everyone wins or everyone loses-- and we have dumped single milkings a few times in the past 10 years-- twice were because we had no hold cows so the routine was disturbed and the pipe stayed in the tank letting the wash into the milk. A couple others were from antibiotics. We have never caused a hot truckload-- the problems have always been caught in the shift. We have had a number of scares that had employees taking tank samples into the plant and that too wakes everyone up-- particularly because tank samples require a lab supervisor (as opposed to a unload worker) and having to wait for one to be called in at 2:00 AM....... While the all win all lose might seem harsh, everyone knows the rules at the start of the game. We have never had a milker cause two milk losses-- the milker responsible must personally tell every other milker why the bonus is less or gone. With scares the milker must also notify the others as a "watch out I almost blew it."</p><p></p><p>The formula is: (250-SCC)(ave daily HWT)(.00042).</p><p></p><p>So (250-190)(261.12)(.00042)=$6.58 per milking. We will adjust this formula down after expanding because the new equipment will help significantly in keeping cell counts lower. We will also be producing 50% more milk in the same number of hours. </p><p></p><p>As for responsibilities, a fully trained lead milker must- in no particular order-- be skidsteer trained, do IV's, be able to check a freshening cow for proper birthing position, assist with calvings, treat and record treatments, know the workings of the parlor enough to tell when something isn't working, recognize cows in heat, and be able to speak enough English to communicate with me. None of our Hispanics were fluent in English upon hiring. Our herdsman is now, as is our feeder. The trainees are doing very well as is our other Hispanic. I am also in my second university semester of Spanish so we have alot of "spanglish" going on lol. The employees were tickled to hear that I was schooling too-- my stumbling through Spanish has made all of us teachers as well as students. That has made them much more comfortable in speaking.</p><p></p><p>I can sum my employee philosophy up in a word: learn, learn, learn. Our herdsman is now as qualified as I am. He started out having only milked cows by hand in Mexico. He is responsible for culling decisions as well as the day to day operation of the herd. He is truely an exceptional person and we have a great respect for each other. I have a process for transferring responsibility but this is getting pretty long....</p><p></p><p>As for the Criminal justice degree-- our brother-in-law has one too and he is doing computer tech work. He has never used the degree-- he started working as a janitor at American Family ins part time in college and when a night shift job in the computer room came open they offered to train him. He's been there 25+years. I was in mechanical engineering when I decided to marry this farmer. Country girl but not farm. My ignorance was one of my best assets-- I could question everything and that lead us to alot of changes.... but of Jerry probably has a different view on all the questions ;-) LOL I've since finished a BS in organizational management-- definitely as asset with the personnel issues. Education teaches us to think...and that opens up the world of choices...</p><p>linda</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="J and L, post: 187234, member: 3494"] Hi Linda here, Jerry thought I would be better able to answer you questions.. I'm also a much faster typist than he is LOL First some basics: We milk at 6:00 AM, 1:30 PM and 9:30 PM. Our tank isn't large enough so our hauler takes out one load before the morning milking and a second one after it finishes. Prior to that "problem" we started at 5:30. Times were picked so I could keep contact with all shifts and still get a night's sleep. Our milkers average about 30 shifts each month so all work some doubles. We have a couple of guys who will put in 38-42, but the rule is that if you are lead milker one shift you are scraper the next. We suggested alternating who scraped by pens but the milkers prefer to mostly scrape or mostly milk, especially in cold weather because it makes dressing appropriately easier. Schedules are out a week in advance-- we get away with this because as for most employees work and English class are their only regular committments. Employees find their own trades and must notify the herdsman or me for confirmation. All shifts must have at least on qualified lead milker. All new hires start as just milking assistants with a straight wage. Within 60 days I expect them to learn to handle the parlor alone. At 60 days they are eligible for our milkers bonus. We use a formula I developed based on our plant bonus and my desire to have the cell count under 200. The bonus only pays down to 150 SCC-- this encourages a balance between volume and SCC. (anyone can have a 50 cell count if they keep enough cows out of the tank lol) The lowest bonus we've paid was $.02 per milking (THAT woke them up!!) and the most about $7.40 per milking. If anything happens that causes milk to be dumped the bonus pays for the milk before paying out. Everyone wins or everyone loses-- and we have dumped single milkings a few times in the past 10 years-- twice were because we had no hold cows so the routine was disturbed and the pipe stayed in the tank letting the wash into the milk. A couple others were from antibiotics. We have never caused a hot truckload-- the problems have always been caught in the shift. We have had a number of scares that had employees taking tank samples into the plant and that too wakes everyone up-- particularly because tank samples require a lab supervisor (as opposed to a unload worker) and having to wait for one to be called in at 2:00 AM....... While the all win all lose might seem harsh, everyone knows the rules at the start of the game. We have never had a milker cause two milk losses-- the milker responsible must personally tell every other milker why the bonus is less or gone. With scares the milker must also notify the others as a "watch out I almost blew it." The formula is: (250-SCC)(ave daily HWT)(.00042). So (250-190)(261.12)(.00042)=$6.58 per milking. We will adjust this formula down after expanding because the new equipment will help significantly in keeping cell counts lower. We will also be producing 50% more milk in the same number of hours. As for responsibilities, a fully trained lead milker must- in no particular order-- be skidsteer trained, do IV's, be able to check a freshening cow for proper birthing position, assist with calvings, treat and record treatments, know the workings of the parlor enough to tell when something isn't working, recognize cows in heat, and be able to speak enough English to communicate with me. None of our Hispanics were fluent in English upon hiring. Our herdsman is now, as is our feeder. The trainees are doing very well as is our other Hispanic. I am also in my second university semester of Spanish so we have alot of "spanglish" going on lol. The employees were tickled to hear that I was schooling too-- my stumbling through Spanish has made all of us teachers as well as students. That has made them much more comfortable in speaking. I can sum my employee philosophy up in a word: learn, learn, learn. Our herdsman is now as qualified as I am. He started out having only milked cows by hand in Mexico. He is responsible for culling decisions as well as the day to day operation of the herd. He is truely an exceptional person and we have a great respect for each other. I have a process for transferring responsibility but this is getting pretty long.... As for the Criminal justice degree-- our brother-in-law has one too and he is doing computer tech work. He has never used the degree-- he started working as a janitor at American Family ins part time in college and when a night shift job in the computer room came open they offered to train him. He's been there 25+years. I was in mechanical engineering when I decided to marry this farmer. Country girl but not farm. My ignorance was one of my best assets-- I could question everything and that lead us to alot of changes.... but of Jerry probably has a different view on all the questions ;-) LOL I've since finished a BS in organizational management-- definitely as asset with the personnel issues. Education teaches us to think...and that opens up the world of choices... linda [/QUOTE]
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