RB 99-02
April 1999
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION AND JOB SATISFACTION ON
DAIRY FARMS IN THE NORTHEAST
Sarah L. Fogleman
Robert A. Milligan
Thomas R. Maloney
Wayne A. Knoblauch
Department of Agricultural, Resource, and Managerial Economics College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cornell University Ithaca, New York 14853-7801
It is the Policy of Cornell University actively to support equality
of educational and employment opportunity. No person shall be denied admission to any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age or handicap. The University is committed to the maintenance of affirmative action programs which will assure the continuation of such equality of opportunity.
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PREFACE
This Research Bulletin is the result of Sarah L. Fogleman's Master's thesis research at Cornell University. She is now a faculty member of Kansas State University. Robert A. Milligan, Thomas R. Maloney, and Wayne A. Knoblauch are faculty members in the Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics at Cornell University. The authors would like to acknowledge the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) and the Cornell University PRO-DAIRY Program for their funding and support of this research. The funding to print this publication was provided by Cornell University PRO-DAIRY Program. Our thanks to Dr. Lois Schertz Willett for her helpful comments in reviewing this report. Additional copies of this report may be obtained for $10.00 per copy by writing: Carol Fisher
357 Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Questions should be addressed to Dr. Robert A. Milligan at 607 255-4579 or email:
[email protected].
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ABSTRACT As economies of size become fundamentally important in production agriculture, farm sizes continually increase. For dairy producers, this results in larger herds, more acres of crop production, and more full-time, non-owner employees, which result in more human resource management concerns. Research is needed to better understand the human resource aspects of the dairy industry. This research quantifies and illustrates the internal pay structure and enumerates the current employee satisfaction levels present on the farms of members of the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA). To enumerate the study, the NEDPA membership was divided into two groups. The first group consisted of all NEDPA member farms. This group participated in the internal pay portion of the study where an enumerator conducted personal interviews with the farm owner or manager and gathered detailed compensation information for each full-time, non-owner employee. A second, more homogeneous group of farms, those with herd sizes ranging from 500 to 1500 cows, participated in both the internal pay study described above and the employee satisfaction study. On these farms, the owner or manager provided detailed compensation information about the employees, and the employees themselves were interviewed to assess their job satisfaction levels. General managerial and production ""'~~~_'
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