GREEN BAY ― Finding, developing and maintaining a reliable workforce is challenging for any business, especially dairy farms. A farm’s workforce is its lifeblood.

To gain an advantage in a competitive labor market, modern farms are increasingly focusing on enhancing their workplace culture and fostering environments of growth and development. 

The Dairy Business Association and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative have dedicated their co-produced Dairy Stream podcast to the issue. A four-part series, “Success in Succession Planning,” kicked off in May, with the penultimate episode released this week. The series examines recruiting and onboarding talent, employee retention and engagement, coaching and counseling and HR management and legal matters. The series was sponsored by Compeer Financial and Syngenta. 

The series includes appearances from a variety of HR professionals and dairy farmers, including Laura Finger of Finger Family Farm in Peshtigo, Sandy Larson of Larson Acres in Evansville, and Christine Bender of McFarlandale Dairy in Watertown. 

“Workplace culture is critical for any business, but increasingly so for farmers,” Tim Trotter, CEO of the two organizations, said. “Dairy Stream prides itself on providing resources for farmers, from farmers, to adapt to an increasingly complex business.”

Bender said building rapport with your workforce is the most important thing a dairy farmer can do.

“It’s important to be objective and non-judgmental,” she said. “Your goal is to help the employee.”

Trotter believes farmers already possess the tools necessary to overcome any workforce challenges.

“Dairy farmers are innovators,” Trotter said. “Dairy Stream has always strived to showcase their stories and share their solutions to complex problems.”