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Cultivating agribusiness success through the workforce
On a drive through Western NSW at the height of the early 2000s drought, Geoff Lucas saw many farms devastated by the lack of rain. Some, however, were still flourishing. What was the difference? “It had to do with people,” he says.
Geoff Lucas learned a key lesson during the early years of his career in the agricultural sector, working in countries such as Libya and Iraq. Failure in agriculture, he found, has more to do with people than with drought, pestilence, flood, commodity prices, or anything else.
While this could be said of many businesses, Geoff says there is a difference when employing people for agriculture: it's all about the cultural fit of the individual, and even their family. If they don't hold the same values, it's not going to work out.
Geoff is the managing director of The Lucas Group, Australia’s leading agriculture and primary production recruitment specialists. The company works with the agricultural industry to find the right permanent staff for open roles, from on-farm managers to industry body CEOs. Their process, he explains, involves a thorough selection screening, saving clients time and money in the recruitment and retention of staff.
"We have a rigorous search process," says Geoff. "We ensure that with all the details we get from our clients, we can create comprehensive documentation, including position and person profiles with defined selection criteria."
It's this thoroughness that has ensured The Lucas Group's success for over 30 years. The company recognises the importance of details and cultural matches. If, for example, a prospective employee’s partner runs their own online business, is there adequate internet service in the area? If they are expecting a baby, is the property a long way from the nearest hospital?
The selection process involves a formal interview to ascertain not only a person’s skills but their values and personality. Referees are also thoroughly interviewed, with a summary provided to the client.
The structured recruitment process ensures a cultural match between a prospective employee and their new employer, while the dual promotion and search process provides a wide breadth of candidates. The Lucas Group furthers their dedication to the people of agriculture by providing a guarantee on the new employee and reviewing the success of the placement.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inadequacy of Australia’s agricultural workforce. According to ABARES, around 17 per cent of Australian horticulture farms that experienced crop loss in 2021–22 reported that a lack of labour was one of the primary causes for the loss. "People are the linchpin of agriculture," notes Geoff. "Our team knows this which is why we strive to ensure the ongoing strength of our industry through its people."
The Lucas Group is based in Adelaide and operates nationally, even running some international projects. They boast a network of around 300,000 agribusiness contacts.
Website: Click here
Email: resume@lucasgroup.com.au
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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