Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Press
Releases
March 8, 2006
Contacts and for local farmer contacts: Peggy Murray, North Country Dairy Viability Institute, 315-376-5270; Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Agricultural Development Corporation,
315-782-1806
New Online Resources Help NNY Farmers Hire Good Help
A new online job listing service coordinated by the North Country Dairy Viability Initiative, Jefferson County Agricultural Development Corporation (JCADC) and the Come Farm With Us regional promotion program is helping Northern New York farmers hire the right help. The website at www.comefarmwithus.org has a Job Listings section that provides farmers and other agricultural businesses in Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, Essex and Oneida counties with a place to recruit qualified employees and resources for developing job descriptions that will attract the right candidates.
Farm and ag businesses looking for employees must work through their local Cornell Cooperative Extension office, except in Jefferson County where they can contact JCADC directly, to submit job listings to the JCADC that manages the website. There is a small fee for posting the job listing for a sixty-day period. The website receives more than 3,000 visitors per month from New York State and beyond.
Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay Matteson says visitors to the Come Farm With Us booth at trade shows in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the Northeast ask about the availability of both farms for sale and farm jobs in New York State.
�We are asked if there are jobs here. With this new service, we can refer people to the job listing section of the Come Farm With Us website where they may easily watch for a job they might be interested in and qualified for,� Matteson says.
The website includes resources for writing job descriptions that will attract the right applicants for farm and agribusiness jobs. A hotlink to a Job Description Generator, created by the Penn State Dairy Alliance, provides occupational profiles and job description templates for several dairy farm jobs, including middle and senior dairy managers and parlor managers and operators.
�A well-written job description can greatly increase a farm operator�s chances of interviewing qualified candidates who have a clear understanding of what the job involves both workwise and for benefits,� says Peggy Murray, a program manager with the North Country Dairy Viability Initiative and a farm business educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County.
�For example, the responsibilities of a middle manager may include human resource skills for managing other employees, monitoring milk quality and herd health, and feed, milking, and records management,� Murray says.
If farm and ag business managers choose to list compensation and benefits in their job listings, information on wage or salary range, insurance, sick leave, housing availability and vacation time can be included. Listings on the site early in 2006 included a herd manager position with a farm partnership opportunity.
To learn more about the job listing service and job description resources, go to www.comefarmwithus.org , click on Job Listings Service, scroll to end of left column and click on the links for the middle manager�s job description or the job description generator.
For more information on the North Country Dairy Viability Initiative, click here.
Contacts and for local farmer contacts: Peggy Murray, North Country Dairy Viability Institute, 315-376-5270; Jay Matteson, Jefferson County Agricultural Development Corporation,
315-782-1806
New Online Resources Help NNY Farmers Hire Good Help
A new online job listing service coordinated by the North Country Dairy Viability Initiative, Jefferson County Agricultural Development Corporation (JCADC) and the Come Farm With Us regional promotion program is helping Northern New York farmers hire the right help. The website at www.comefarmwithus.org has a Job Listings section that provides farmers and other agricultural businesses in Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton, Essex and Oneida counties with a place to recruit qualified employees and resources for developing job descriptions that will attract the right candidates.
Farm and ag businesses looking for employees must work through their local Cornell Cooperative Extension office, except in Jefferson County where they can contact JCADC directly, to submit job listings to the JCADC that manages the website. There is a small fee for posting the job listing for a sixty-day period. The website receives more than 3,000 visitors per month from New York State and beyond.
Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay Matteson says visitors to the Come Farm With Us booth at trade shows in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the Northeast ask about the availability of both farms for sale and farm jobs in New York State.
�We are asked if there are jobs here. With this new service, we can refer people to the job listing section of the Come Farm With Us website where they may easily watch for a job they might be interested in and qualified for,� Matteson says.
The website includes resources for writing job descriptions that will attract the right applicants for farm and agribusiness jobs. A hotlink to a Job Description Generator, created by the Penn State Dairy Alliance, provides occupational profiles and job description templates for several dairy farm jobs, including middle and senior dairy managers and parlor managers and operators.
�A well-written job description can greatly increase a farm operator�s chances of interviewing qualified candidates who have a clear understanding of what the job involves both workwise and for benefits,� says Peggy Murray, a program manager with the North Country Dairy Viability Initiative and a farm business educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County.
�For example, the responsibilities of a middle manager may include human resource skills for managing other employees, monitoring milk quality and herd health, and feed, milking, and records management,� Murray says.
If farm and ag business managers choose to list compensation and benefits in their job listings, information on wage or salary range, insurance, sick leave, housing availability and vacation time can be included. Listings on the site early in 2006 included a herd manager position with a farm partnership opportunity.
To learn more about the job listing service and job description resources, go to www.comefarmwithus.org , click on Job Listings Service, scroll to end of left column and click on the links for the middle manager�s job description or the job description generator.
For more information on the North Country Dairy Viability Initiative, click here.
