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Farm Worker Occupational Qualification
Dear Farmer,
Scientific Roets (PTY) Ltd has been appointed by AgriSETA to conduct research into the primary agricultural sector, specifically to determine the industry requirements with regards to a farm worker occupational qualification and the experience required. This will inform AgriSETA as to the design and implementation of a programme to address the skills shortages of commercial farmers in South Africa. Please take a few minutes to provide us with some information regarding your farming requirements, your opinions and suggestions. The information is strictly confidential and your name is not required for the survey.
Kind regards
Dr Merida Roets

Please note: When completing this questionnaire the following definitions are applicable.

Farm Managers (Independent decision-making, marketing, purchasing, work scheduling, quality control, planning, monitoring and evaluation. These are the most skilled and qualified full-time employees within the farm. They have complete supervisory authority and the most decision-making authority given to any full-time employee.)
Supervisors (Team leadership, work planning and assigning of tasks, labour relations, spokesperson. Because of his or her exceptional skill level, this person is in a position to make decisions that impact entire areas of the operation. Many employees may have to carry out those decisions, giving this person a potentially large supervisory authority)
Specialised labourers (Employees who are highly skilled in at least one specified area. These employees may make decisions related to their areas of expertise and may administer those decisions through other employees, therefore giving this employee some supervisory capacity. However, this person’s decision-making authority does not extend into other areas of the operation)
Skilled labourers (Able to operate sophisticated equipment, handle difficult and valuable animals with care, apply first aid when necessary, able to measure and note quantities, able to sort and grade produce. Specialized individuals who perform anywhere from one to many tasks that often requires training. Although these employees may make decisions such as the order in which to perform certain tasks, they do not have the authority to make decisions relating to their job responsibilities, area of production, or coworkers. Thus, they have no supervisory authority. – THIS CATEGORY IS MOST RELEVANT TO THIS QUESTIONNAIRE)
Unskilled labourers (Hand milking, shearing, packaging, loading, general labour, hand planting and harvesting, carrying. They are, for example, individuals who are assigned their tasks by another person and who then perform miscellaneous jobs that require no previous training or experience.)
  1. What type of farming do you practice?

2. Which of the following skills are needed by your skilled farm labourers? Use the following scoring to indicate their level of importance on your farm:

1 - Essential

2 - Recommended

3 - Rarely needed

4 - Not needed at all

If equipment or a machine is used please provide us with the make and model of equipment that needs to be operated in the right-hand column.

Skills needed / Rating / Equipment used on your farm
1. Tractor driving / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
2.Mechanised planting / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
3.Mechanised harvesting / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
4.Bulk feeding of animals / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
5. Mechanics (Vehicle or machine repair) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
6. Animal milking (By hand) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
7.Sorting of farm produce / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
8.Application of farm pesticides,herbicides,fungicides (Mechanised) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
9. Veld management (rotational grazing) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
10.Animal handling (dipping, vaccination, external and internal pest control, castrating, ear-tagging, branding) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
11.Machine milking / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
12.Application of pesticides,herbicides,fungicides,(Hand sprayers) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
13. Driving (to and from market etc.) / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
14. Gardening / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
15. Sheep shearing / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
16. Packaging of farm produce / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
17. Tree pruning and marking / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
18. Animal Medication / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
19. Waste management / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

3. What other skills are required by your skilled farm labourers that are not mentioned above? Keep in mind that we are trying to put together a training programme that will ensure that a farm worker has the skills necessary to work on YOUR farm. Please use the attached list to get more ideas (Please note this is an American list and some items may not be applicable here.) Please provide these, score their need (as above) and state which equipment is used on your farm below:

4. Besides the skills listed above, what other attributes do you look for in a skilled farm labourer? Please name any other attributes in the blank spaces.

Writing skills / Reading skills / Oral communication skills / Decision-making ability
Physical fitness or strength / Willingness to learn new things / Qualifications in agriculture or related field / Number of years experience
Contactable references / Being able to work with others in a team / Honesty

5. Is there a demand for the various levels of employees on your farm? Circle your answer.

Farm Managers / Yes / No
Supervisors / Yes / No
Specialised labourers
Skilled labourers / Yes / No
Unskilled labourers / Yes / No

6 If yes what is the demand? Please circle the most relevant option below.

Farm Managers / Very high (30 or more staff needed) / High (10 to 30 more staff needed) / Average (5 to 10 more staff are needed) / Very Low (Less than 5 more staff are needed)
Supervisors / Very high (30 or more staff needed) / High (10 to 30 more staff needed) / Average (5 to 10 more staff are needed / Very Low (Less than 5 more staff are needed)
Specialised labourers / Very high (30 or more staff needed) / High (10 to 30 more staff needed) / Average (5 to 10 more staff are needed / Very Low (Less than 5 more staff are needed)
Skilled labourers / Very high (30 or more staff needed) / High (10 to 30 more staff needed) / Average (5 to 10 more staff are needed / Very Low (Less than 5 more staff are needed)
Unskilled labourers / Very high (30 or more staff needed) / High (10 to 30 more staff needed) / Average (5 to 10 more staff are needed / Very Low (Less than 5 more staff are needed)

7. What “intangible” attributes do you look for when employing a farm labourer and why? For example: happy, serious, questioning or entrepreneurial personality? Or, is this not relevant?

8. What can disqualify a candidate from being employed as a farm labourer on your farm? For example: his/her need for housing, family dependants with a need for housing, previous criminal record, bad reputation, lack of skills etc.

9. Please provide an indication of the individual salaries that you pay per month.

Farm Managers / Less than R 5 000 / R 5 000–R 10 000 / R 10 000–R 20 000 / R 20 000 or more
Supervisors / Less than R 2 000 / R 2 000-R 5 000 / R 5 000–R 8 000 / R 8 000 or more
Specialised labourers / Less than R 1 300 / R 1 300-R 2 000 / R 2 000–R 5 000 / R 5 000 or more
Skilled labourers / Less than R 1 300 / R 1 300-R 2 000 / R 2 000–R 5 000 / R 5 000 or more
Unskilled labourers / Less than R 1 300 / R 1 300-R 2 000 / R 2 000–R 5 000 / R 5 000 or more

10. Are you involved in skills development on your farm? Please indicate the type of programmes you are involved with by writing the appropriate number next to the employee level.

1 – No training offered

2 - Non-structured work-related supervision (Do this, do that, do it like this etc.)

3 - Structured work-related mentorship (assigned to a senior who continuously shows and tells)

4 - Informal training programme – on farm (in-house) facilitation - ABET (Literacy and Numeracy) – no exams or certification

5 - Formal training programme – external facilitation – ABET (Literacy and Numeracy) – with exams and certification

6 - Informal training programme – external facilitation – Equipment operation (e.g. Massey Ferguson training, AlfaLaval training) – with or without attendance or competency certification

7 – Formal training programme – SAQA-aligned qualifications (NQF 1 to 4: Animal Production, Plant Production, Poultry Production) – with assessment and competency certification

8 – Experiential training of National Diploma students – with supervisor report to Higher Education Institution

9 – Sponsored BIWA programme (Bursaries, Internships, Work-place Experience, Apprenticeships – For which your farm is being used to gain practical experience by Diploma or Degree students – post degree) – potentially sponsored by corporate institution or AgriSETA

Farm Managers
Supervisors
Specialised labourers
Skilled labourers
Unskilled labourers

11. Have you ever taken part in an AgriSETA BIWA programme (Bursaries, Internships, Work -place Experience, Apprenticeships)?

Yes / No

11.1 What do you think AgriSETA could do to help you address your on –farm skiils shortage?

12. How do you currently recruit your skilled farm labourers?

13. Would you utilize a Farm Worker Recruitment System if it were available in your area?

Yes / No

14. Do you think there is any benefit in assessing the skills, knowledge and experience of your experienced farm workers in order to give them recognition for their prior knowledge? (Where they do not have any formal qualifications to show for their experience?)

Yes / No

15. What do you think these benefits would be?

16. The formal process of assessing experience and awarding a qualification is called “Recognition of Prior Learning”. Would you enroll your older, more experienced farm workers in such a programme if provided the opportunity to do so?

Yes / No

16. What would encourage you to enroll your older, more experienced farm workers in such a programme?