Showing up to the interview is just the first step toward landing a new job, but it seems that new hires can have a difficult time taking that first step when it comes to farm work.

“It’s really tough to try to find good help,” says Maike Goltstein of Union Go Dairy, a 1,650-cow dairy farm in Winchester, Ind. “I can tell you at least 50% of job interviews we schedule are no-shows.”

Even after they pass the interview with flying colors and are hired, those new hires may find difficulty in taking the second step and showing up for their first day. Goltstein says Union Go Dairy hired someone earlier this summer who was a no-call, no-show on his first day of work.

“That kind of tells us all we need to know when it comes to hiring people,” she says. “We don’t reach out to them. That’s on them.”

Finding help

If you find yourself in that predicament on your operation, you may have some options to explore when it comes to finding farm help. Taking your labor search online could help you find the help you need.

Word-of-mouth recruiting is no longer cutting it, says Maike’s sister, Sanne Goltstein.

“In the past, we have been very successful with just word of mouth, especially in the Hispanic communities, if we were looking for an employee to milk cows or feed cows,” Sanne says. “Whenever one employee left in the past, usually a family member or friend would come in and take their place. That has slowed down.”

The farm has since sought out online options for recruiting. After experimenting with Facebook advertisements for jobs — an option that no longer exists — and Zip Recruiter, Union Go Dairy has landed on Indeed as a hiring solution. Maike says they were successful in their labor search when they first launched position openings on Indeed.

“We did really well with it at first, just without having to sponsor our job posts,” Maike says. “But now we’re having to sponsor them, which is a little unfortunate.” This means they are paying to have their job postings promoted to jobseekers, reaching a larger labor pool.

Full-time work

At this point, Maike says, hunting for good labor has almost morphed into a full-time position on the farm. For producers who do not have that added help, this can make a labor search almost impossible.

“You constantly get applications, but you have to sort through them and pick out the ones that have the right kind of experience,” Maike says.

Sanne agrees, adding: “With jobs like this, it’s kind of tough because not everybody has the right kind of experience. But if you have a little bit, we always say that any job is teachable.”

That flexibility to teach could provide some wiggle room as you embark on your own labor search. The Goltstein family farm also offers positions apart from milking and feeding, so opening more options could help you bring in more interested applicants. And those applicants eventually could become trained in all or most of the areas of the operation.

Although Union Go Dairy does not currently do this, another consideration could be incentivizing current employees to find reliable help. If you decide to go this route, monitor the help that is being brought in to ensure they are there to get the job done.

The labor search can seem daunting, but with some trial and error, you may find what works best for your operation.