Is Taiwan's dairy farming output good? Opening to foreign migrant workers to be decided as early as early January

What is the work in dairy farming like? Chen Chi-chung, head of the Council of Agriculture, said dairy farming is a 3D industry, and Taiwanese people are less willing to do it, so foreign migrant workers are being opened up. Let's take a look.

Dairy farming has long working hours, a heavy workload, and a relatively dirty and messy environment, and the labor shortage problem is serious. Over the past two years, the Council of Agriculture has subsidized dairy farmers to hire workers, but even with a monthly salary of 40,000 yuan, they still cannot find people. It has applied to the Ministry of Labor to open up foreign migrant workers, setting a quota of 400 people, limited to dairy farms raising 80 or more dairy cows, and excluding agribusinesses. If the Ministry of Labor approves the review in early January, it will become Taiwan's second agricultural category to open up foreign migrant workers after fisheries.

An estimated 400 people to be opened up, excluding agribusinesses

The Council of Agriculture held a "Press Conference on the Results of Improving Agricultural Labor Shortages" this afternoon, and took the initiative to announce that it has applied to the Ministry of Labor to open up foreign migrant workers for the dairy cattle breeding industry. Fan Mei-ling, director of the Counseling Division, said that the initial demand for foreign migrant workers in dairy farming was about 680 people, which was adjusted to 470 after assessment. Adding about 50 people from the Council of Agriculture's agricultural labor and livestock team, a quota of 400 people is planned for a trial run, and an application has been submitted to the Ministry of Labor.

The Council of Agriculture plans that livestock farms applying for foreign migrant workers must have 80 or more dairy cows, and each livestock farm is limited to applying for only one person; agribusinesses are excluded, and any dairy farm that has established a company cannot apply for foreign migrant workers.

Why prioritize opening up foreign migrant worker applications for dairy farming? Chen Chi-chung, acting head of the Council of Agriculture, said dairy farming is a "3D industry" (Dangerous, Dirty, Difficult), and ordinary Taiwanese people are not very willing to do it; in addition, dairy farms have work 365 days a year and are a single employer, so there is no need to worry about migrant workers having no work during the off-season.

The Council of Agriculture estimates that if foreign migrant workers are opened up, wages must comply with Taiwan's Labor Standards Act minimum starting salary of 23,100 yuan, and food and lodging and the employment stabilization fee must also be covered, with estimated labor costs of about 30,000 yuan.

Fan Mei-ling said that if the Ministry of Labor review passes in January, applications can be opened up, and the source countries for migrant workers still need to be discussed with the Ministry of Labor.

Dairy farming applications for migrant workers were rejected by the Ministry of Labor in 2016

In fact, as early as 2016, the Council of Agriculture had applied to the Ministry of Labor to open up foreign migrant workers for dairy farming, but on October 27 of the same year, the Ministry of Labor's Cross-National Labor Policy Consultation and Advisory Group met and decided to keep the application on hold, hoping the Council of Agriculture would prioritize the use of domestic manpower and strengthen matching with the domestic labor force.

Over the past two years, the Council of Agriculture has subsidized dairy farming wages by 8,800 yuan per month, with an expected monthly salary of up to 40,000 yuan, but still not many people are willing to enter the field. Therefore, Fan Mei-ling believes that with this renewed application, the probability of approval by the Ministry of Labor is high.

Milking workers at dairy farms must milk the cows at 5 a.m. and milk again at 3 or 4 p.m. Employers are usually unwilling to hire two people for shifts. If foreign migrant workers are opened up, will there be a problem of excessively long working hours? The Council of Agriculture emphasizes that hiring foreign migrant workers must comply with the Labor Standards Act, with an 8-hour workday, and overtime pay must be given for anything beyond that; if an employer requires a migrant worker to handle milking both morning and evening, they must be allowed to rest in between, and that cannot be counted as working hours.

Targeting New Southbound countries, promoting farm internships and working holidays,

In addition to opening up foreign migrant worker applications for dairy farming, the Council of Agriculture is also looking toward the young labor force of Southeast Asian countries, running the "Taiwan-Indonesia Young Farmers Elite Technical Internship and Training Program," selecting Indonesian youths to intern at Taiwanese farms for a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months, with a planned trial of 300 people this year, and the first group reporting in July.

Fan Mei-ling said these Indonesian youths must have agricultural experience in their home country. After coming to Taiwan, they will use the rural manpower dispatch center system, with farmer groups, NGO groups or professional units assisting with training, food and lodging, and work arrangements. For example, they will first intern at various experiment and improvement stations to build skills, and then be matched to various farms for internships. Farms must submit an "annual skills internship plan," assist with accommodation, and provide a living allowance.

The Council of Agriculture has also launched a farm working holiday program for New Southbound countries: Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc., with a planned limit of 200 people per country per year, a visa stay period of 180 days, extendable once for up to one year,

Fan Mei-ling said all application documents have been prepared, waiting for the results of negotiations between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and overseas missions, and the number of recommendation documents issued will be based on the proportion of agricultural labor shortages in each county and city.

Chen Chi-chung: Foreign migrant workers will not be allowed to take jobs from Taiwanese people

As the Council of Agriculture brings in foreign labor on a large scale, Chen Chi-chung emphasized that this does not mean greatly opening up foreign agricultural workers and squeezing out the policies currently being promoted. "(Opening up migrant workers) cannot violate the supplementary principle, and cannot take jobs from domestic workers or new residents."

He said the Agriculture and Food Agency has already taken stock of the labor shortage and mechanization needs of all crops and livestock industries. Even tea, which is very difficult to mechanize, now has machinery. In the future, it will move toward automation and mechanization to solve the labor shortage problem.

Fan Mei-ling, director of the Counseling Division of the Council of Agriculture, pointed out that the Council of Agriculture has established manpower activation teams. In the 107th year of the Republic of China, a total of 91 teams were established, recruiting 1,935 people, accumulating more than 270,000 person-days of work and serving more than 4,000 farms; in the 107th year of the Republic of China, mechanized contract cultivation teams were established, with this year's focus on leafy vegetables, heading vegetables, flax, onions, and pineapples, matching mechanized contract cultivation. It is also cooperating with the Taichung City, Chiayi City, Kaohsiung City, and Pingtung County governments to strengthen the scheduling mechanism of the agricultural manpower platform.