In some of my recent columns I have been a bit critical of the educational system and today’s young people. I guess it must be that I am getting old and grouchy, and not playing enough basketball!...More
My last article focused on those students who fall in the lower half of the bell curve based upon my experiences as a guest lecturer this winter and spring and interaction with award-winning professors around the nation. Let me clarify that the lower half of the bell curve is not limited to just grade point average. The bell curve I am describing measures professionalism, which is a combination of grades, attitude, work experience and emotional intelligence skills of a well-rounded individual....More
Over the past few months I have guest lectured in agriculture and business classes at various universities and colleges. Of course, times are changing since my days in the classroom when I taught over 10,000 students at Virginia Tech and Cornell University. Today’s classrooms have an abundance of technology at one's disposal, for both professors and students with a wide range of interests and agendas....More
There were 575,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the nation's farms and ranches during the week of January 8-14, 2012, down nearly 5% from a year ago. Workers hired directly by farm operators numbered 748,000 for the following quarter's reference week of April 8-14, 2012. Because NASS did not publish estimates for the April 2011 quarter, no previous year comparison is available for April....More
I received an e-mail from a son who is contemplating the decision to return to the family farm. In this case, the son had graduated from a university with a degree in agribusiness. He is bright and has completed two successful internships with a cooperative and a business outside of agriculture....More
Parents of children who work on the family farm or are in agriculture education programs should thoroughly review proposed changes to child labor laws so they fully understand how the new rules could affect them, advises Bill Field, a Purdue farm safety specialist. "Because the proposed rule changes are 51 pages long, I don't know that many people understand exactly what's being presented," Field says. "The changes not only hold the potential for positive but also significant negative effects to youth less than 16 years old who seek employment or are currently employed in agriculture."...More
For years, producers and state agriculture officials have warned that federal laws governing farm workers – often in a three-way tug-of-war between farms’ need for migrant workers in the field, security concerns in the wake of 9/11, and U.S. communities and states claiming heavy social/financial burdens imposed on them by illegal aliens numbering over 11 million – are heavy-handed and laden with unexpected consequences. Until recently, those warnings have largely been ignored....More
There were 1,141,000 hired workers on the nation's farms and ranches during the week of October 9-15, 2011, down 1% from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 828,000 were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 313,000 workers....More
In a previous column, I mentioned that I asked a group of peak performing producers, “What is your biggest snafu?” Last time we discussed the importance of developing a board of advisors. Now let’s focus in on the people component....More
As the boss of a farm or ag business, managing employees can be a challenge. But with a few key human-resource management tips, anyone can become a better boss, says Bob Milligan, professor of applied economics and management emeritus from Cornell University....More
