Migrant dairy farm staff in Canterbury - Filipino and Chilean experiences

Abstract

Do the backgrounds and experiences of Filipino and Chilean migrants working on dairy farms in Canterbury differ? Dairy exports are a major earner of the New Zealand economy. With the increase in the number of cows per herd and the amount of land in dairying increasing, there has been an increase in the demand for good labour. For example bigger corporate farms in the South Island compared with smaller family farms in the North Island. Given the ratio of 150-200 cows per full time staff member, there has been a shift in the labour profile from the traditional family owned and operated farm to the owner with manager and employed staff. The employment opportunities created from this have been largely ignored by New Zealanders. The New Zealand dairy industry has met this demand for staff by employing migrant labour from foreign countries, particularly from the Philippines and South America, who see it as an attractive option. These migrants have been described as ‘essential’ to the New Zealand dairy industry. To compare and contrast the Filipino and Chilean experiences, I conducted ten semi structured interviews split evenly between the two ethnic groups. The participants were found by a snowball sample, basically one interview lead to another. Once interviews were completed I drew out key themes and used examples from participants to illustrate these.