This project has sort to identify the potential to measure the value added from training of on farm employees. This has been achieved by reviewing the literature on valuing training and interviewing industry stakeholders to develop an understanding of the training system. Once the system was defined, opportunities to measure and improve the systems were identified.

There is significant diversity in the labour productivity metrics such as area per employee (174ha to 290ha per employee), bales per employee (1260 to 2290) and cost of labour per bale ($23 to $36). These differences do require further analysis to allow meaningful benchmarks as machinery assets and use of contractors for farming and picking impact them. Although there are challenges to compare metrics between farms, in their current form they do provide useful measures for the same farm over time.

The process of shifting employees towards their productive potential will require an understanding of the specific skills required for cotton production tasks on farm. The Cotton Basics course provides a logical breakdown of the task that are impacted by employee capacity. This project recommends that the Dreyfus Model of skills acquisition be used as scale of capacity for each of these tasks. By breaking down the employees role and ability to specific tasks and skill level, capacity development can be targeted and value to the farm business quantified.

Realising value from training is not limited to the quality of the training event. Current training evaluation research has identified pre training attitude and post training application as more critical to realising value than the training event itself. This emphasises the role of the employer making clear the need for the training and how it will impact the farm enterprise, and post training re-enforcing the new skills and knowledge through practical application. This is very difficult if the training provider does not know the particular skills needs of the farm business, or the employer does not know what the trainer is providing.

Ultimately, the value of this research will be realised by growers and farm managers improving the productivity of their enterprises by attracting and developing the people who work on their farms. It would be useful to have a fuller understanding of the skills and attributes that are valued, the relationship of these skills and attributes to specific farm practices, and the current practice of employee capacity development.

There are currently about 4,000 permanent employees on cotton farms, with many more seasonal and casual workers. The vast majority of training is currently done on farm. Initial analysis of production figures suggests a significant difference in contribution to farm productivity between employees, and therefore significant gains to farm productivity from employee capacity development.