Dairy farmers are being called on to complete a vital survey to better understand the critical issue of on-farm labour in the sector.

The UK dairy industry faces a number of long-term challenges, and the availability and retention of labour ranks highly for many individual farm businesses.

Sarah Bolt, membership development manager at Kingshay, said: “We are looking to gather the facts surrounding labour on today’s modern dairy farms, most importantly to appreciate how modern technology affects this.

“For example, does technology and equipment reduce labour requirements and how does contracted labour tasks such as foot trimming and heat detection impact staffing levels.

“We’re calling for dairy farmers to take a few minutes to fill in the survey online this month by visiting our website or by emailing contact.us@kingshay.co.uk to request a hard copy.

“All survey respondents will receive a copy of the final report and will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 ‘Buy a gift’ voucher.”

The survey closes at the end of November.

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