Lantra Career Finder

A dairy farm will have a herd of dairy cows that the Assistant Herdsperson will help take care of on a day to day basis. Cows bred for milking will enter the milking herd after they give birth to their first calf, from 2 years of age, which initiates their milk production. The cows are managed to produce a calf each year, this allows milk production to continue.

An Assistant Herdsperson will know each cow, her history and temperament, and be aware of any problems that may arise during milking and closely monitor how well each cow milks. Specific cow identification tags can be detected by the milking machine and it automatically records how much milk has been produced by the cow during each milking.

For management purposes, some Assistant Herdspersons split the cows into groups of high yielders, low yielders and dry (non milking) cows. Dry cows are those that are heavily pregnant and close to giving birth.

The milk yield will relate to how recently the cow gave birth, the stage of her next pregnancy and will determine feed rates and rations. An Assistant Herdsperson will also work with the Herdsperson to monitor grass growth and quality and move the cows between fields depending on the supply of grass and feed.

Dairy cows can be very expensive costing over £1000 each and it is a difficult role to balance optimum milk production with the correct nutrition and health and welfare of the herd. A small change in routine or diet can decrease milk production affecting the profitability of the dairy enterprise.

An Assistant Herdsperson's tasks may include:

• Helping to prepare livestock feed
• cleaning livestock accommodation and equipment for feeding and watering
• helping others to load and unload livestock for transport
• learning about animal welfare and how to identify signs of illness
• assisting in keeping accurate records of animal numbers

An Assistant Herdsperson may also:

• learn how to drive a tractor
• help to maintain hedges and areas of woodland
• clear ditches
• assist in vehicle and machinery maintenance
• mend walls and fences
• clean, and help to maintain buildings.

They work under the supervision of the Herdsperson.

">No two parks or gardens are the same therefore the work is varied, interesting and provides a wide variety of tasks and opportunities.  Their work involves all stages in the care and planting of flower beds, trees, shrubs, lawns and managing and maintaining gardens or green spaces. In addition to this, there is also the general maintenance of green areas plus erecting fences and hard landscape tasks e.g. laying paths.

Many Gardeners work in gardens open to the public and can be engaged in visitor management, events, leading garden walks and contributing to the interpretation and marketing of the site. Gardeners must work to maximise visitor enjoyment by maintaining excellent standards of presentation within the environment.

A Gardener's work involves a variety of jobs including:

• Cutting grass and hedges
• Edging lawns
• Seasonal maintenance of shrubs and trees
• Digging, planting and weeding flower beds and borders
• Laying mulch (compost, bark or other materials) around plants
• Propagation, plant production and maintenance under glass
• Clearing and planting flower beds
• Providing plants with support and protection
• Pest and disease control and the timely and safe use of pesticides as directed
• Clearing leaves and litter
• Recycling garden rubbish
• Cleaning and maintaining machinery and equipment

Gardeners will be expected to use a range of tools and mechanical equipment, ranging from hand forks to large vehicle-mounted equipment requiring specialised training.

The work may involve basic building, such as erecting sheds or conservatories or building patios, walls, decking and fencing.

Gardeners involved in ground maintenance may work in small teams to make sure parks and public spaces are regularly maintained. Some Gardeners may also be involved in park safety, carrying out regular checks on children's playgrounds.

Gardeners may specialise in:

• Trees and shrubs (arboriculture)
• Maintaining specialist play surfaces such as cricket and football pitches (Groundsman) and golf courses (Greenkeeper)
• Interior landscaping and looking after plants in office blocks, shopping arcades and other indoor areas
• Restoring old gardens
• Tree-planting schemes
• The regeneration of derelict land

Many Gardeners are self-employed, working for private individuals and offering services from basic lawn mowing and hedge trimming to full garden design.

As a Yard Manager, you could work on various types of yards, such as competition, breeding, training, riding schools, racing and trekking. Your work would depend partly on the type and size of the yard but you may be required to:

• plan the running of the equestrian yard
• plan the horses’ exercise routine
• plan horses’ routine care and keep appropriate records for vaccinations, farrier, teeth and worming
• purchase and maintenance of feed and equipment
• keep appropriate records such as financial, insurance, accident reporting
• Oversee equine first aid
• conduct risk assessments
• maintenance of grassland
• select, purchase and sell horses
• Oversee accounts and cash flow
• recruit, train and supervise staff

On smaller equestrian establishments, you may have sole charge of a yard and do more practical work, such as looking after the horses, riding horses and yard maintenance.

In competition, hunting or racing yards, Yard Managers may also prepare horses for events and may accompany them. In smaller studs and breeding yards, duties may also include working with stallions, mares and foals, assisting with foaling and handling youngstock.

Depending on your skills and qualifications, you may also have responsibility for other activities, for example running competitions, instructing, transporting horses’, promoting and marketing the establishment and liaising with owners / clients.

There are various jobs that include transporting horses, these include Grooms, Yard Managers and Riders. There are also opportunities to become employed as a Horse Transporter for a transportation company or run your own Horse Transport business

Technicians may work on:

• complex high technology machinery, such as tractors, sprayers, processors and planters, some of which use the latest technology including global positioning systems (GPS), electronic mapping and guidance systems
• professional and domestic groundcare machinery such as compact tractors, rotary tillers, cultivators, quad bikes, grass collectors, mowers
• machinery used in turf care such as corers, and cylinder mowers.

The work involves:

• running diagnostic tests on complex machinery and equipment
• Controlling , adjusting machine settings via I.T,  recording and analysing data
• carrying out repairs
• servicing and maintaining a wide range of plant and machinery
• adjusting and setting equipment to operate correctly
• replacing parts and making new components if necessary
• using techniques such as welding to make repairs
• referring to technical information and repair manuals.

Land-based service technicians will use a wide range of hand and specialist tools, often including diagnostic equipment and laptop computers.

As am Assistant Manager, you could work on various types of yards, such as competition, breeding, training, riding schools, racing and trekking. Your work would depend partly on the type and size of the yard but you may be required to:

• plan the running of the equestrian yard
• plan the horses exercise routine
• plan horses routine care and keep appropriate records for vaccinations, farrier, teeth and worming
• purchase and maintenance of feed and equipment
• keep appropriate records such as financial, insurance, accident reporting
• Oversee equine first aid
• conduct risk assessments
• maintenance of grassland
• select, purchase and sell horses
• Oversee accounts and cash flow
• recruit, train and supervise staff

On smaller equestrian establishments, you may have sole charge of a yard and do more practical work, such as looking after the horses, riding horses and yard maintenance.

In competition, hunting or racing yards, Assistant Managers may also prepare horses for events and may accompany them. In smaller studs and breeding yards, duties may also include working with stallions, mares and foals, assisting with foaling and handling youngstock.

Depending on your skills and qualifications, you may also have responsibility for other activities, for example running competitions, instructing, transporting horses, promoting and marketing the establishment and liaising with owners/clients.

A Fieldsman tasks would include:

• Building and developing relationships with Farmers and Unit Managers to ensure best husbandry practice, high welfare standards and production efficiency
• Visiting farms on a regular basis to monitor all aspects of pig husbandry and performance including cleanliness, feed utilization, pig health, housing, security, and welfare
• Assisting with selection of pigs for slaughter and arrange transport
• Assisting with feed ordering and product forecast reports as required
• Assisting with pig performance trials on farm
• Ensuring welfare code and quality assurance requirements are always met

Monitoring and recording production performance and statistics as required

A pig farm will have a range of pigs at different ages on the farm. Breeding pig farms or units will keep a herd of female breeding sows which, following mating with a boar or by artificial insemination, will give birth to a litter of piglets called 'farrowing'.

The sows will rear their piglets until they are old enough to eat other feeds, at which stage they are weaned from the sow at the 'weaner stage'. The piglets are moved through various stages as they grow from 'weaner' to 'grower' stage and finally to 'finisher' stage. At this point they will be near the correct weight and fatness, usually between 4 and 6 months old, and are sold for pork, often processed for sausages, bacon and ham.

Some farms buy in weaned piglets from breeding farms to grow and fatten for the pork market. Others are specialist breeding farms with a very high health and disease free status that produce high value gilts (young female pigs) for farmers to start breeding from.

A Trainee Pig Farm Worker's tasks include:

• Helping to feed correct diet rations and amounts and ensuring there is water supply to the different stages and groups of pigs
• Learning to check their health and condition and reporting any problems
• Helping weighing the pigs to monitor performance
• Moving pigs to different paddocks and/or buildings
• Cleaning pig buildings and equipment

Tractor driving may be required to move large bags of feed or clearing away farm yard manure from buildings for example. A Trainee Pig Farm Worker would work under the basic Stockperson or under the supervision of the skilled Stockperson, Pig Technician or Section Head. Trainee Pig Farm Workers may also help with general tasks such as:

• Maintaining vehicles and machinery
• Mending walls and fences and assisting with general maintenance