DIVERSITY
Training Spanish-speaking dairy workers
University of Wisconsin-Extension helps dairy producers and workers bridge the communication gap
During the hands-on portion of a dairy-worker training session, Connie Cordoba, former UW-Extension outreach specialist for Hispanic workers, teaches the proper way to attach chains onto a calf's leg when assisting a cow with calving. Photo by Jennifer Keuning
As dairy producers update their barns and milking facilities and add more cows to their herds, they need consistent, reliable employees who have been trained in modern dairy practices. Many dairy workers working on Wisconsin farms are Latinos from Mexico and Central America and may not speak much English.
Providing a key to learning
A survey conducted by UW-Extension found that 38% of dairy farmers hired translators to communicate, 24% used other Hispanic employees to train, and 19% used hand signals to train and communicate with their Hispanic employees.
The Hispanic labor work group of the UW-Extension Dairy Team developed four training modules in Spanish and English. These modules cover milking, reproductive, calf-management and herdsmanship skills.
The training modules are effective for individual farm trainings or group meetings. Generally, an instructor and a translator provide the training, which includes a lecture and hands-on activities, to small groups at an on-farm location.
Comprehensive teaching materials
Teaching materials include instructions on how to conduct training meetings as well as PowerPoint slides with voice-over in English and/or Spanish describing the importance of a specific skill, speaker notes, handouts, certificates of completion, and evaluation forms for participants and employers.
The teaching materials are available in print and on CD-ROM and can be tailored to specific training needs. An additional training curriculum, available on DVD, provides a step-by-step approach to conducting fresh-cow exams.
Increased skills and knowledge
Since 2004, almost 500 workers have attended modules on milk quality, reproduction, calf care and assisting cows with calving. Evaluation results show that participants made large gains in skill level and knowledge.
The training helps transcend communication barriers to the benefit of both English-speaking employer and Spanish-speaking worker. Dairy producer Deb Reinhart, who sent two employees to a training session said, "The two gentlemen I sent came home quite enthused and quoted verbatim all the things that I have been trying to teach them about calves through the years."
International use
The training modules are used in the neighboring states of Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota and in the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.—Lorre Kolb
For more information: Dairy/Livestock Agent Zen Miller, zen.miller@ces.uwex.edu, (920) 832-5119