While training takes many forms and varies greatly from one dairy to the next, two common goals among producers are to increase employee engagement and to grow employee skill sets.

One of the biggest differences between farmers who struggle to be progressive and make changes and those who possess the agility to tackle change boils down to structure and clarity.

In this episode of the Progressive Dairy Podcast, host Kimmi Devaney visits with Kansas dairy producer Lee Holtmeier from Linn Willow Creek Dairy about their employee culture, what they do to mentor and empower employees, and how they keep employee turnover low. 

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” Since this quote is from Henry Ford, it is approximately a century old. If this was true for his assembly line workers, it certainly is even more true today.

For these three Pennsylvania dairy producers, their stories are each very different but have one commonality: working full-time on their family’s dairy operation wasn’t always their dream.

“Onboarding" refers to the process in which new hires are integrated into the organization.

“The process of ensuring the new employee has a great start, becomes engaged and stays is called onboarding.” Onboarding is more than just the orientation and training that have traditionally been our focus for new employees.

Some may call it a trailblazing enterprise with a strong commitment to stewardship and productivity, but if you ask owner Jerry Huth, he’ll crack a smile and say it’s more of a “4-H project run amok.”

Twenty-five miles inland from the Atlantic coast, along the Savannah River, you can still see the rise and fall of the ocean tide.