Project Overview
A skilled, satisfied and stable labor force is essential to the success of most farm operations and leads to a reduction of grower risk. Variable pay systems, including bonuses, profit-sharing, and employee stock ownership plans, are highly correlated with farm labor retention. During this project, we developed a variable pay manual based on a review of existing materials, interviews with experts and case studies of five farms successfully implementing these strategies.
We conducted 3 presentations about employee stock ownership plans with growers attending farm succession and business planning conferences. As a result of the focus of these workshops, we presented information on only this one aspect of our research to growers. Through these workshops we reached 115 growers. Results from the evaluations received from our outreach partner indicated that less than half of the audience found the information presented useful. Because the focus of the workshop was succession planning rather than labor retention strategies, we could not assess the viability of this strategy as a risk management tool.
The variable pay manual is now available online through the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) website. Based on the last report we posted on the NCAT website we can expect approximately 7,000 downloads of this manual. We can expect approximately 200 downloads from the CIRS website. In addition, we can expect distribution of hard copies to exceed 500. The numbers cited here are based on our recent report on positive labor practices.
Number of Participants: 140
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
There are no promotional materials available for this project.
EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
There are no educational materials available for this project.
REPORTS & EVALUATIONS
There are no reports or evaluations available for this project.