Farm worker looking for work

[slinky1088]

Hi there,

I'm a 21 year old English man who is looking at moving to Finland as my girlfriend is Finnish. Does anyone know of any jobs going or any useful contacts which could help me find work in the agriculture sector.

Many thanks

[Pursuivant]

Of course Helsinki, the rodeo central

[mrjimsfc]

There are quite a few jobs for farm workers in Finland. If your girl friend wanted you to work on a farm, she would have already told you where to find a job. The truth is, as a farm worker in Finland, you would be farther away from her than you are right now in England. Farm assistant is just the nice Finnish way of saying slave! Look for something else!

[onkko]

Farm assistant is just the nice Finnish way of saying slave! Look for something else!

Nah, if you are talking about lomittaja its not. Pay isnt so good and responsibilities are high but slave... You are mixing it with pickers who arent paid enough but thats not farm assistant

[slinky1088]

sorry ,my bad, should have said Keski-Suomi area...plus I probably should have said tractor driver, not farm worker...

Thanks

[sinikettu]

Most farms in "Keski Finland" are small when compared to UK.
Family run/staffed.

Further north there are large potato farms but the work is very seasonal.
Sorry but everyone and their dog can drive a tractor what is your unique capability?

[Karhunkoski]

Will you have own transport?

Do you speak any Finnish?

[Charles Monk]

Slinky,

The structure of Finnish agriculture is very different from that in the UK. The farms are tiny, and mostly family-owned and family-run as a part-time thing. This changes the whole atmosphere: think Welsh family smallholding circa 1950, then add baseball caps.

Be prepared for some surprises with health and safety standards and attitudes (eg rollbars not obligatory). Did you notice someone on this thread saying that 'everyone and his dog can drive a tractor'? I could add: '... but only if there's room in the cab for them all'.

I do know of a couple of larger arable farmers who've rented or bought up fields and run things like a business, and it seems that they employ tractormen, but it could be just seasonal work. Remember that there's no fieldwork from October to May: I think that they do forestry then, while the ground is hard and the pests won't attack lying timber. Do you have chainsawing experience in coniferous plantations?

You might get lucky and find a farmer who wants to practice speaking English. Why not try an advert in the Finnish equivalent of Farmer's Weekly? http://www.maaseuduntulevaisuus.fi/en_GB/. You could ask for a summer job first, and then see how it works out.

Honestly, though, unless you find a remarkably patient and keen empoyer, language is going to be your problem. Assuming you've got all the necessary sprayer competence tests and so on, do you think that they would be transferable to Finland? If you need to re-take them or take new ones, how are you going to do that? How are you going to read the labels on the chemicals, or order machine parts, or call for help in an emergency?

One should assume that it's going to be impossible to learn the language in less than five years.

Give it some thought. Good luck.

[Pursuivant]

think Welsh family smallholding circa 1950, then add baseball caps.

... note all village speaks Welsh and only Welsh, except the young kids, but they've moved to the city or Australia

[DMC]

Do you have chainsawing experience in coniferous plantations?

Is that important? Perhaps experience of something larger than a chainsaw is needed for most forestry work in Finland. On the other hand a forestry worker we had clearing some trees a couple of years ago said it was impossible to find help, so a willing learner may be more welcome than in some occupations.

Honestly, though, unless you find a remarkably patient and keen empoyer, language is going to be your problem.

I'm not so sure. I deal with a couple of farmers close to me that speak excellent English, so although some don't/won't it isn't necessarily a lost cause. For example, I met a Russian girl who was working with cows on one local farm. She spoke no Finnish and communicated entirely in English.

I would have thought the seasonal nature of the work is more likely to be the main problem. With most farms being small many will only need an extra pair of hands at peak times, like harvest.

[Pursuivant]

Which is why theres always a demand for a municipal "maatalouslomittaja", as the farmers get holidays but the cows need to be fed. But as for open jobs... seems stablehands are a bit more sought after.

[Karhunkoski]

Do you have chainsawing experience in coniferous plantations?

Is that important? Perhaps experience of something larger than a chainsaw is needed for most forestry work in Finland.

You're correct DMC, at least in my experience. Long gone are the days when farmers harvested their own forests with a hand-held (chain)saw, it's all done with forest harvester contractors nowadays. The nearest a farmer might get is thinning out bushes and small trees with a strimmer (12" serated steel disc blade on the end).

[Charles Monk]

Do you have chainsawing experience in coniferous plantations?

Is that important? Perhaps experience of something larger than a chainsaw is needed for most forestry work in Finland.

You're correct DMC, at least in my experience. Long gone are the days when farmers harvested their own forests with a hand-held (chain)saw, it's all done with forest harvester contractors nowadays. The nearest a farmer might get is thinning out bushes and small trees with a strimmer (12" serated steel disc blade on the end).

True, but a 21 y.o. tractor driver from England is unlikely to have experience driving a forwarder or harvester (or even using a clearing saw). I was thinking what skills Slinky might already have which are perhaps useful in the Finnish winter wonderland.

[Karhunkoski]

I was thinking what skills Slinky might already have which are perhaps useful in the Finnish winter wonderland.

With respect, "chainsawing experience in coniferous plantations" isn't really much use, at least on the farms I've worked on.

He's unlikely to score as a local authority holiday/sickness cover, mainly because of the language handicap. But a temporary renki-type role could be possible. If I was him, I would be looking to offer a dual-role, maybe to a family he could offer native English practice and farm help (assuming he knows something about the grammar of his own language). I would also be asking my gf's family for introductions to farmers they know (nobody on here will recommend him purely from a post on the internet...). Farmers sometimes have an awkward relationship with eachother, but they do talk...and recommend...equipment and people. But any position wouldn't pay much, that's certain.

There are 70,000 farms in Finland, Keski-Suomi narrows it a bit, but if he gave a bit more detail as to where exactly he's thinking of moving to...well that would help..

An advert in MT would definitely be a good move, especially if worded correctly,

[slinky1088]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your help and advice. My girlfriend is studying in Jyväskylä, which is why I was thinking of the Keski-Suomi area, however I would be willing if necessary to work anywhere really. I am learning Finnish, but as it's alot harder than high school French! My gf family has already put me in touch with some local farmers. However unfortantly most of my gf's family is as un farmer like as come, however her aunt lives in the countryside and has promised to help.

Do you have many agricultural contractors in Finland? In England they're a sure way of finding tractor work. as for foresty work unfortuantly I don't have any experience, its a very hard line of work to get into in England. However it's always been something I have been interested in.

Thanks again

Slinky