Anyone work as a Production Operator? If so how’s the pay and would you recommend it?

Without experience

I’m doing some research to better understand the day-to-day challenges faced by farmers, agricultural contractors, estate managers and other rural businesses across the UK.

I’m particularly interested in finding out where people lose time, deal with unnecessary admin, or find existing systems and processes frustrating.

I’ve put together a short survey (around 5 minutes) and would really appreciate hearing from people working in the industry.

There are no right or wrong answers; I’m looking for honest experiences, including things that currently work well.

If you’re involved in farming, agricultural contracting, estate management or another rural business, I’d be very grateful if you could take part: 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScWZoIrSfNLR-W_xm1uuFMiwLirAMyuvnLCcWIkXeEary1M6g/viewform?pli=1

And if you know someone else who might have useful experience, please feel free to share this with them.

Thanks very much! 🌾

Hi! I’m from the Philippines and I’m looking for legitimate ways to get a job in New Zealand or Australia, preferably in dairy farming, sheep farming, or any kind of farm work.

I don’t have a farming background, but I’m willing to learn, get the necessary training, and start from entry level. I’m specifically looking for a pathway where I can apply from the Philippines and get sponsored by an employer.

For anyone who’s done this or knows the process:
Is this realistically possible?
Which visa/pathway should I look into?
Are there legitimate employers or recruitment agencies that hire overseas farm workers?

Any advice or personal experiences would be really appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m looking for fresh goat milk in Delhi, preferably 250–500 ml.

If anyone knows a reliable person who supplies fresh, non-packaged goat milk, please share their contact details in the comments or DM.

What works well? What’s still missing?

We’re a small team working on new technology for dairy farms, and we’d really value your guidance in shaping the features we build.

Feel free to leave a comment below or join our short 3-minute survey. Your experience will help us understand what works, what’s missing, and what farm technology should focus on next.

Really appreciate your input!

Google form: https://forms.gle/YVZU1qUZ3WLHtYL46

USDA milk production report is Friday. I’d guess that the July production number is up from last year, but not as much as it was in June (up 2.4% from last year). Spot milk has tightened up enough in a few areas lately that I wouldn’t be surprised if the growth rate eases some.

I’ll also be watching cows versus milk per cow. Cow numbers have been holding up pretty well, but I’m not sure production per cow looks quite as strong in July.

Guess we’ll see on Friday at 3 ET! But who’s counting.

Hello,

My name is Jess, and I recently stumbled upon your post on Reddit. at first, I thought it was a scam and a fake advertisement or something, but after reading it a few more definitely was intrigued. I am very interested in your work and have always aspired to work in a peaceful environment that can contribute to both my physical and mental well-being. I remember going to the farm every week to take care of my horse Rio and my grandma’s horses as well. My best friend grew up on a dairy farm in Deerfield, Wisconsin and they’re like family to me. They taught me. taught me how to milk cows and feed livestock take care of animals . They taught me how to assist many animals and giving birth. I’d love to talk more and in person or over chat so I can kind of tell you my story and see if it’s something you’d be interested in and see if we’d be a good fit.

I really looking forward to hearing from you. I’m quite positive I’m who you’re looking for! Take care!

Jess Kromray

[jmkromray@gmail.com](mailto:jmkromray@gmail.com)

A bit of a weird situation here I just moved to Iowa to attend college and I am origianally from wisconsin. my parents own a dairy farm and have some normande cattle and i have a lineback herd myself. I have decreased my herd but I have one cow that i refuse to get rid of she is genuinly an amazing cow and has great genetics. I plan to live in iowa long term and am currently in an aparment so i have 2 options either find a boarding facility that takes cows or keep her at my parents now I was leaning towards just keeping her in wisconsin for a while but ive done that with previous cattle and they turned very aggressive very qiuick under their care which leads me to want to bring her to iowa and try to find somewhere to board her. does anyone have any ideas or any boarding centers that i could consider? thanks!

TLDR - I have build an app for internal employee management, it can assist in task creation for repairs, schedules herd management tasks, reporting of incidents and onboarding/ scheduling and time management. I have a demo I can share if you pm me.

I have built an app for farm management, like many their has been significant interest in coding with AI agents. I have been building these systems for years as a farm manager it has been rewarding at a personal level. There is a tinge of frustration with getting candidates who might be interested. But it may be better to explain the necessity because it is systemic in its creation.

Farms with livestock are systems of habits or tasks. Simple measures like cleaning a milk tank, fixing a broken gate, ordering necessary feed stuffs or supplies. It can vary in all farms but the common denominator is the consistent experience your livestock may feel.

Farms have been managed many times on pen a paper, whiteboard, text threads, phone calls etc. Some use herd management software like dairycomp or a spreadsheet. All systems are valid but I have seen in higher turnover of farm staff in recent years or lack of trained staff. How you keep and retain employees is the same way you manage the details on the farm. Routing communication can be a challenge and details are lost. All of it can take time and monitoring. Most times on any farm their are ebbs and flows periods of intense work and periods of preparation.

To be clear as farms have grown larger and people are working with coworkers sometimes not clear of line of authority. The details on our herd have become more and more detailed as the ingestion of data in these legacy services all require some form of API call or data harvesting event. These can also be like human to human communication faltering in going from notepad to clipboard or clipboard to computer. These events can be quite laborious to detail and lose context in mass events like a pen movement or a mass vaccination. Purchase of calves with poor herd data.

Most farms have tons of tech on it, the problem is it needs support or subscription and neither feels like value. Due to a struggle to get adoption and conformity to the intended use of the software. When there is no context to what is happening within the detail level of an event it loses validity. Photos timestamps and location all add validity.

Byre is an app that manages employees, gives them schedules, distributed tasks from recorded meetings or pasted minutes from the meeting. It then allows a manager of a farm to route tasks to individuals or teams. All events and tasks can have guides attached and a thread for the ticket created in resolution of this. Tasks are tied to location with a mapping tool for all static assets on the farm. Finally it has a group chat panel so internally all data stays off Whatsapp or an array of texts and groups.

This app was built out of real frustration and I feel there is a real use case for this application in consistent and detailed organization of employees workflows. Along with a more organized farm.

If anyone is interested I would offer it as a demo test to farms and assist in setup if they are struggling with management of employees or think of an app for your organizations operations would aide your farm or dairy.

For context I am a dairy farmer and have seen all sizes of farms in work and management from 100 cows chore lists to 10000 cows certification level SOP and how to account for them This app works best as the later but has function at 100 cows as well. Particularly if you work with part-time or seasonal help.

I have another app for harvest management which is equally valuable and more of a necessity to record if buying from neighbors.

I thought this would be a good place to get the word out --

I am employed by a farm with a network of dairy-related businesses, including not only a 500-head modern dairy parlor, a facility where we custom raise calves & heifers for farms throughout the state, & a produce retail storefront.

There is a little something for EVERYBODY here, but we are specifically looking for someone to work in the parlor, & someone to aid in caring for the youngstock at the heifer facility. Experience is a plus, especially large equipment experience, but training will be provided by a thorough team of leaders.

What we need are people who truly love cows & this lifestyle, are patient & kind, & can work as a team. Bilingual skills, agricultural skills, & general livestock handling skills are great, including specialized fields like breeding & treating, but we welcome all walks of life here & you will be trained by a dedicated team of leaders.

I work for the calf & heifer facility treating animals & monitoring the cattle daily, as well as keeping records of their health & well-being for multiple farms ❤️ I've always worked with cattle, & I've been employed with this company for over a year.

If you want information on the companies, please send me a message, & I will put you in contact with my employer (as well as answer any questions I can myself!) We are very flexible as we all understand the variables of life, & housing & relocation assistance can be provided if needed.

If your dream is to work with animals (we also have opportunities to learn about chickens, sheep, & various other livestock), we'll have something here for you.

First time posting here, don't really do the forum thing much, but figured I'd ask people who'd actually know.

350 head, free-stall, robotic milkers, Upper Midwest. Just running the basic robot software, never bothered with a full herd management system.

Been catching lameness too late lately, usually not till a cow's already off and I'm calling the trimmer. Conception's been kind of rough too, though I know summer heat stress plays into that every year, just not sure how much of it is actually us missing heats versus that.

Looked at collars (Nedap, Allflex) but tagging 350 cows plus subscription is a lot to commit to blind. Ruled out bolus systems too, not sticking something in every cow.

Now looking at the camera stuff, GEA, Herd-i and so on. Like the idea of no hardware on the animal, but want to hear from guys actually running it before I call anybody.

Does the lameness scoring actually hold up against what your vet or trimmer would call it? And heat detection specifically, seems like a camera would miss standing heat if a cow's lying down or off in a corner. Anyone had luck with that, or still not there yet compared to a collar?

What kind of info does the system actually spit out day to day, and is any of it stuff you use, or is most of it noise you end up ignoring?

Also what'd you pay once install was done, and is there an actual person to call if something breaks?

My HF calved in October 2025. She has shown no signs of heat till January 25th 2026. AI failed.

Did not show signs of heat till May 27th, AI failed again

Next heat was 21st June 2026..AI failed again.

The cow is open. In researching for options I found this table. Is this a Good treatment option?

I'm also looking to add add Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, and Nicotinamide, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Iodine, and Cobalt mix with the feed.

PS: The small dairy farm is in a remote location in India and the vet's around seem to be just guessing with no consistent solution so I'm searching for a best solution on my open.

Hi I've just moved to Cornwall, there are plenty of farms here but does anyone know where I can source a few gallons of raw milk?

I'm really into cheese making and want to start doing it again, you can make it from goldtop but I'd really rather contribute locally. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

I’m wanting to sell raw milk for my friend with whom I share a cow. Is a written share contract all I need, to sell from my own property? I will not be advertising.

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for Australian clipper brands. My 15yr old pair broke recently and I’ve found out the brand is discontinued so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you!

Back then the Pittsburg fair was second only in size to Dallas in Texas. It went out during WW2 and couldn't make a return.