Autumn-block farms know the feeling by mid-September. Spring-block farms know it by early February. The weeks either side of peak calving stretch every farm's labour to its limit, and the farms that come through cleanly are, almost without exception, the ones that planned the staffing early.
Why block calving makes staffing harder
On an all-year-round farm, a worker missing one day is a nuisance. On a block farm during calving, the same absence is a potential animal-welfare issue. The maths doesn't spread itself out — you need the person there when the cows are calving, not a week later.
That's why relief cover planned in advance sits in a different category to emergency cover arranged the morning of. The first is an operational decision; the second is firefighting.
Plan six weeks out, confirm four
Our most experienced farms start the conversation with their regional manager six weeks before block-calving begins. That gives us time to identify two or three workers with the right skills, check their availability, and hold the slot.
Four weeks out, we confirm the booking. By that point, the worker has blocked the dates in their calendar and the farm has a known name turning up, not a question mark.
If the farm leaves the call until the week before, we can still often find someone — but not always the person who'd have been the best fit.
What to brief the relief worker on
When you know who's coming, give them more than directions. The parlour layout, the routine, the couple of cows they need to keep an eye on, the feed vs grass split, the vet's phone number, where the first-aid kit is.
Ten minutes of briefing saves hours of friction in the first week.
Fast-turnaround cover
We do keep a small pool of workers available for genuine emergency cover — illness, injury, a permanent worker walking out in the middle of the block. In most cases we can have someone on the farm within 48 hours, sometimes the same day. That's not the cheap option and it's not the planned option, but it exists for when it's needed.
When permanent turns to contract
A common pattern we see: a farm's permanent herd manager has taken the block on themselves for years, and is burning out. Shifting to a contract arrangement — a known LKL person on a 12-month commitment — can be a more sustainable answer than hoping they'll last another season.
If you'd like to talk through a block-calving plan for this autumn or next spring, your regional manager is a phone call away.
Talk to LKL
Every placement we make is briefed in person by a regional manager. If this article raised a question you’d like to talk through, we’re a phone call away.