Hispanics represent a significant portion of the agricultural workforce in the U.S. Between 1996 and 2000, the number of Hispanic farm workers has nearly doubled from 183,000 to 364,000. These farm workers may or may not have prior livestock experience, but constituted 47.4 percent of farm labor in 2002. Because only a very small number of farm managers are Hispanic, and Hispanic farm workers are for the most part foreign-born and Spanish-speaking, a communication gap is likely to arise between English-speaking management and Spanish-speaking labor on livestock operations.

The problem of communication is exacerbated on large operations where owners do not directly supervise the treatment that each cow receives on a daily basis. Instead of knowing and managing each and every cow, the dairy owner typically has a manager, who in turn has area supervisors, who have area workers.

It is the area workers who have the opportunity to observe each cow on a daily basis and many times need to make decisions regarding the treatment that the cows receive. The owner must now rely on the decision- making skills of his or her employees. How does the dairy producer assure that his or her employees are well prepared to make decisions that may have a profound effect on animal health and productivity?

Effective training programs that provide dairy workers with the necessary skills and knowledge to make health- and production-related decisions are absolutely critical. Although dairy producers see worker training as a priority, they admit that they lack time and ability to effectively train their workers on the farm. This [article] focuses on factors that are key to enhancing motivation and engagement on the part of dairy workers.

Why is “why” important?
Regardless of the population of learners attending a training intervention, the instructor must deliberate carefully about what information he or she will be sharing with students. Is the instructor merely listing the steps of the milking routine, or is he or she explaining why forestripping is important and why the pre-dip solution needs to be in contact with the teat skin for at least 30 seconds? The key word here is why.

Adult learners need to understand why things need to be done in a certain way if they are to truly understand the importance of their work. Moreover, for adult learners to be truly engaged in the learning process, they need to see the value of what is being learned. Training programs that aim to motivate students and engage them in the learning process should share with students the whys in the milking parlor, in the sick pen, in the maternity area, in the calf-rearing area and so forth.

When the number of animals on an operation is in the thousands, then the owner or manager will not be able to make every single decision regarding treatment of sick animals or when to intervene with a difficult calving. When livestock workers understand the reasons behind the protocols in place and the basis for choosing treatment A instead of treatment B, they are better equipped to exercise problem-solving skills in the management of a difficult case.

Whether it is an individualized training program or a centralized training session, the content of the intervention should focus on basic knowledge and the why of things in the area of the operation being discussed. Knowing why motivates students and helps them make decisions when needed.

Effective training
Besides including the why of procedures and protocols, cultural issues that can hinder understanding need to be considered and addressed if training interventions are to be effective in engaging learners. Some cultural barriers that may affect communication on dairy farms include collectiveness, power distance, degree of expressiveness and the degree of context in communication. These cultural characteristics are generally very different for white U.S.-born versus foreign-born, Spanish-speaking individuals. They influence the way words are understood, the meaning of nonverbal cues, the willingness to disagree with someone considered an expert or a superior and the environment most conducive to learning.

How do these differences translate to a dairy worker training session? Because Hispanics are from a high context culture with respect to communication, visual cues are extremely important when facilitating training. The instructor must make an effort to “read” the learners’ body language. Hispanic students will tend to agree with everything said by the “expert” because disagreeing might be seen as disrespectful.

Asking questions of the teacher might also be perceived as disrespectful behavior by some learners. The instructor should make it very clear to students that questions are welcome and invite students to share their experiences with the class.

In order to verify whether or not concepts are clear and the reasons for procedures are understood, the teacher should ask questions of the students in an informal manner during class. Especially when literacy skills are a concern, verbal quizzes are more successful than written questionnaires at revealing how well the students understand the concepts presented during the training. Practice time allows the teacher to assess the students’ skills with specific work-related tasks, and case discussions are appropriate for testing students’ decision-making skills and recollection.

The distance between the trainer and the students can be reduced by stating common goals and promoting two-way communication. Using student-friendly vocabulary and sharing relevant experiences that illustrate the teacher’s learning process are also useful in closing that perceived gap. For example, when facilitating a training session on calving management, the instructor could share with the class mistakes made while managing difficult calvings, and lessons learned from those mistakes.

Whenever possible, training interventions should be facilitated in the native language of students. Especially when second language skills are limited, students benefit from being presented with information in their native language. It is also very important for the instructor to be aware of regional differences regarding key vocabulary.

Regardless of the cultural background of the learners, training sessions aimed at motivating and engaging dairy workers should:

1. promote small group discussion
2. engage in interactive two-way communication
3. allow for feedback
4. be rich in visual aids and relevant, real-life examples
5. allow for practice time during a hands-on laboratory session PD

—Excerpts from 2007 American Association of Bovine Practitioners Conference Proceedings

Noa Román-Muñiz, David C. Van Metre and Franklyn B. Garry, Colorado State University