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This publication is the proceedings from the conference "Workforce Management for Farms and Horticultural Businesses: Finding, Training, and Keeping Good Employees," which was held January 13-15, 1999, in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. Included are fourteen papers presenting concepts and practices related to creating a work environment that motivates employees and is productive, profitable, safe, and worker-friendly. Papers address fundamentals of human resource management that apply to all types of farms and horticultural businesses. Individual papers focus on topics including the value of good employees, learning to be a better manager, implementing people-oriented management, enhancing the employer's reputation, communicating the business's mission, rewarding employees, managing a multicultural workforce, performance feedback, recruitment and hiring, getting the most from employees, leadership skills, hiring with or without a contract, elements of an employee contract, discrimination, essential regulations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency worker protection standard, developing a safety training program, and others. The proceedings will be of interest to owners and managers of farms, horticultural businesses, and agribusinesses and to professionals who advise them. (1999)

A publication from the Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service (NRAES) can help owners and managers of farms, horticultural businesses, and agriservice businesses learn to create a work environment that motivates employees and is productive, profitable, safe, and worker-friendly. It is the proceedings of a conference entitled "Workforce Management for Farms and Horticultural Businesses: Finding, Training, and Keeping Good Employees," which was held January 13-15, 1999, in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. The proceedings ($15.00 plus S & H/sales tax, 140 pages, January 1999) includes papers on various aspects of farm workforce management by experts from the fields of human resources, law, business, academia, and government.

The proceedings Workforce Management for Farms and Horticultural Businesses: Finding, Training, and Keeping Good Employees, NRAES-117, offers fourteen papers, including discussions of such key issues as the value of employees, communicating the business's mission, and managing a multicultural workforce. Other papers address material covered in training workshops at the conference: performance feedback, recruiting and hiring outstanding staff, getting the most from employees, and leadership as coaching to develop people. Additional papers address legal aspects of farm workforce management, such as elements of the employment contract, hiring with and without a contract, guest workers (the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program), discrimination in the workplace, the fundamentals of farm employment rules and regulations, the EPA worker protection standard, and developing a safety training program.

In addition to owners and managers of farms, horticultural businesses, and agribusinesses and professionals who advise them, this book will be of interest to readers including managers and owners of businesses not big enough to have a human resource department, public- and private-sector farm advisors, professionals in the service and supply industry, agricultural educators, and government agency staff.

The conference was sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy; Keystone Farm Credit, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development; Pennsylvania Dairy Stakeholders; American Agriculturist, Maryland Farmer, New England Farmer, and Pennsylvania Farmer magazines; and NRAES.

The planning committee for the Workforce Management for Farms and Horticultural Businesses conference included Lisa A. Holden (conference co-chair), Department of Dairy and Animal Science, The Pennsylvania State University; Robert A. Milligan (conference co-chair); John C. Becker, The Agricultural Law Research and Education Center, The Dickinson School of Law, The Pennsylvania State University; Roger L. Brook, Department of Biosystems Engineering, Michigan State University; Robert E. Graves, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University; Larry Hutchinson, Department of Veterinary Science, The Pennsylvania State University; Thomas R. Maloney, Department of Agricultural, Resource, and Managerial Economics, Cornell University; Wesley N. Musser, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Maryland at College Park; Lehan R. Power, Penn State Cooperative Extension; and Marty Sailus, NRAES.

Workforce Management for Farms and Horticultural Businesses, NRAES-117, is available for $15.00 per copy (plus shipping and handling) from NRAES, Cooperative Extension, PO Box 4557, Ithaca, New York 14852-4557. Shipping and handling for one copy is $4.25 within the continental United States. New York residents, add sales tax (calculated on both the cost for publications and the shipping and handling charges. Click here for more information.) If ordering more than one book, or if ordering from outside the United States, contact NRAES for shipping rates and possible quantity discounts. Orders from outside the United States must be prepaid in U.S. funds. All major credit cards are accepted, and checks should be made payable to NRAES. For more information or a free publications catalog, contact NRAES by phone at (607) 255-7654, by fax at (607) 254-8770, or by e-mail at NRAES@CORNELL.EDU. To learn more about NRAES and browse through our entire catalog, visit our web site at WWW.NRAES.ORG

How Much Are Your Employees Worth?

Robert A. Milligan, Bernard L. Erven

Communicating the Mission to All Personnel

Lisa A. Holden

Managing the Multicultural Workforce

Walter C. Montross

Performance Feedback

Don R. Rogers

Recruiting and Hiring Outstanding Staff

Bernard L. Erven

Getting the Most from Your Employees

James G. Beierlein

Leadership: Coaching to Develop People

Robert A. Milligan

Hiring with and without a Contract

Jennifer LaPorta Baker

Elements of an Employment Contract

John C. Becker

Guest Workers in Agriculture: The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Worker Program

Al French

Discrimination in the Workplace

Michael D. Pipa

Farm Employment Rules and Regulations: What You Need to Know

Al French

EPA Worker Protection Standard (CFR Title 40. Part 170)

David M. Scott

Developing a Safety Training Program Involves a Commitment to Reduce Hazards and Injuries

Ellen L. Abend, Eric M. Hallman

Speaker Biographies
Jennifer LaPorta Baker
John C. Becker
James G. Beierlein
Bernard L. Erven
Al French
Lisa A. Holden
Robert A. Milligan
Walter C. Montross
Michael P. Pipa
Don R. Rogers
David M. Scott

Conference Notes Pages