From Left Field, Belle Binder has a vision for the future of farming

“Two and a half years ago, I knew nothing about farming. In fact, so little that I didn't know what labour hire was, I thought it was just hiring of equipment.”

The name of Belle Binder’s company Left Field embodies exactly how Belle came into the labour hire industry, it was unexpected, unpredictable but definitely fortuitous. 

With a background in marketing, business and psychology, Belle and her husband were looking to take over a business, but they certainly weren't expecting to enter the agriculture industry.

They came across an “old school” company who were conducting labour hire for farms entirely out of a handwritten week-to-view diary, and saw an opportunity.

“I found myself questioning, why is it done that way? I think the fresh eyes coming in and being naive had its pros and cons, but we bought everything into the 21st century, everything's electronic, it's a paperless office. I've had a lot of fun bringing the brand to life.”

Belle’s business Left Field takes a hands on approach, she loves getting on site. IMAGE CREDIT: Supplied

The way Belle explains labour hire makes it sound simple. 

She explains that once the farmer's produce is ready for picking, they can contact Left Field for employees and Belle and her team will send the number of workers the farmer needs. Once the work is complete, they invoice the farmer and take care of the rest (HR, invoicing, taxes, wages, workers compensation).

So it sounds great, but what is the purpose of labour hire?

“Usually crops are seasonal, and so the hiring process is time consuming. There's not usually any marketing done to attract the right candidates, there's not usually the selection criteria and processes along the way, most of the time there's not even interviews, you just call and say ‘you've got a heartbeat? You start tomorrow.’ So that's usually the process, but I've found that it doesn't really get you the workers that you want.”

Belle’s own experience in the workforce wasn’t easy, in one of her first jobs she had to deal with an incredibly challenging boss, disapproving coworkers and an all round poor working culture, but once she found an environment that suited her, her relationship with work completely shifted. 

Her mission with Left Field is to have a positive impact on the livelihoods of farmers and workers, and improve some of the working culture on Australia’s farms.  

“I'm very motivated to make a change in farming, and farming has got a terrible reputation, and it’s a misconception, it’s not true.” 

In this week's Human of Agriculture episode, Belle talks about her success stories, the aha moments of running a business in ag and insights into her own interview process which helps her get the right people into the right jobs.