In the ’90s and early 2000s, Russell Plaschka says it was easy to provide a list of 10-20 names he could proudly recommend when a local farmer or rancher called asking for high school students looking for weekend work. If a rancher wasn’t prone to phone calls, Plaschka says back then, they could post a help wanted ad on the side of the road and find someone quick.

It wasn’t a task he took lightly; an agriculture operation is only as strong as the people who keep it up and running.

Towards the end of his career in teaching, however, Plaschka’s list of names became noticeably shorter and roadside signs didn’t result to a single lead.

“I couldn’t in good conscience send anybody out to them without training them or getting some experience, because the good ole ag kids weren’t there,” he explains. “I’ve always said it’s the kind of old cliché of, ‘Where have all the cowboys gone?’ Well, in this case, it’s where are all the good ole ag kids? They’re not there anymore.”Today, Plaschka is the agriculture marketing director for the Kansas Department of Agriculture, but it’s a question he still asks himself daily. He has a hunch that in part, the industry has never fully recovered from the ag crisis of the ’80s.

“There was such a gap there of people that left agriculture that it’s hard to fill that gap, even in the 40-plus years since,” Plaschka says, noting not a lot of producers have changed their recruitment techniques or hiring processes.

There’s also the chance this labor issue stems from a growing distance between most people and life on the farm.

“I think part of it is our society is more and more removed from agriculture as part of their heritage,” adds Clay Mathis, animal science department head at Texas A&M University. “The desire to work and appreciate the work that we do in agriculture is probably not the same as it was 50 years ago.”
With that disconnect also comes trouble falling in love with a lifestyle far removed from urbanization. Jim Howell, CEO of Grasslands, LLC, a ranch management company, says the culture and habits of the average American no longer align with the cowboy code.

While there’s no quick fix to suddenly convincing the masses to come back to a life in the saddle, cattlemen can adjust their hiring process to help make sure they’re offering jobs to the best fit possible.

Helping when help is wanted

The first step to hiring someone is actually locating a candidate — a task Plaschka has already defined as harder than one might think. His best advice is to “be assertive.”

“Basically, instead of waiting for somebody to come to your door, you’re going to have to go out and beat the bushes a little bit,” he explains. “Always keep an eye and an ear out for somebody that could do the job or could be trained up, because you never know when you’re going to need to call upon them."

Howell’s secret weapon? Friends in the industry. Relationships formed over the years typically center around shared values and respect for similar animal husbandry practices, so he knows names recommended by friends are the kind of people who’d fit in on the operation.
He’s even been fortunate enough to find potential suggestions from resigning employees. It’s an added benefit of having strong relationships with his staff.

“We defer to our employees a lot now as we fill spaces, because they just have an intuitive sense of the kind of people we’re trying to hire,” Howell says. “They really value the fact that we have healthy teams, and they don’t want to mess that up.”

Once the names starting rolling in, there’s no “perfect prescription” to identify standouts, Mathis warns, but ranchers should trust their gut as they sort through applicants.

“I believe that our intuition as employers is really valuable and often underestimated,” he says.

Part of that gut check comes naturally with time, Howell adds. He recommends a slower interview process, encouraging producers to take multiple opportunities to get to know a candidate before offering the position.

“It’s a lot cheaper to interview them two or three times than it is to interview them once, hire them and pay for the mistakes they make,” Plaschka confirms.

At Grasslands, applicants join Howell for a phone call first. If they impress during that initial chat, they submit a résumé and a personal essay, further introducing themselves and sharing their ambitions.

“It doesn’t have to be wonderful writing,” he admits, “but basic things like full sentences and proper punctuation are a significant thing.”
After the essay comes an in-person interview. The final step is spending a few days on the ranch with the rest of the staff.

Plaschka recommends asking candidates to help move calves to see how they treat animals, having them sort a pen of bulls to learn about their knowledge of phenotype or pairing them with other staff to complete daily tasks. This technique not only proves how serious an applicant is, but also gives employers an insight into how they would perform if offered the job, he adds.

Whether in the office or in the pasture with a candidate, Plaschka suggests asking behavior-based questions. By having potential employees name past experiences or describe previous interactions, cattlemen will gain a better understanding of who that person is at their core.

Though Mathis says different qualities are required for different job titles, there are certain characteristics to look for in all employees. His list of must-haves are problem-solving abilities, initiative, organizational skills and, most importantly, integrity.

When hiring, Howell references The Ideal Team Player, a book by Patrick Lencioni. It describes qualities a person can have that signal their innate ability to be a solid employee and team player.

“They have to be hungry, humble and people-smart,” Howell describes. “If they’re severely deficient in any one of those three, it’s hard for them to be good, solid, long-term employees. None of those three things, you can teach people how to do. Those are traits that have to be embedded in them.”

With Grasslands, LLC, Howell also prefers candidates to have a background in livestock and have spent some hours in the saddle. As they’re managing ranch properties for clients, it’s a safety concern and can take away from efficiency.

While that’s Howell’s reality, both Mathis and Plaschka say that doesn’t have to be the truth for an independent cattleman.

Plaschka encourages agriculturists — when possible — to invest in applicants with the right attitude, but need some time with a mentor.

“They’re searching for that right opportunity, but they don’t have the experience to jump in,” he adds.

If they hire during an offseason or slower time of year, employers can spend more time onboarding and training, Plaschka says. In his mind, there’s actually a benefit to bringing a new face to the team without as much experience: they’re a clean slate. He says producers have a chance to train employees to work cattle the way they want do it.

It’s an investment to find and help mold the “perfect” fit for an open position on a ranch, but Mathis says it’s a task producers should step up to the plate for. It’s the only way to truly combat the labor issue plaguing the entire industry.

“The challenge is it takes a lot of time,” he says. “Nobody has extra time, but I think that becomes even more and more important as we look at the decade in front of us — trying to make sure we’ve got a solid labor force.”