Farm Labor report: Wages up

Wages are up, but the number of workers is down. Here is the summary material for the recent U.S. farm labor report from the USDA

Hired Workers Down 7 Percent, Wage Rates up 4 Percent From a Year Ago

There were 919,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of April 6-12, 2008, down 7 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 700,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 219,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.60 per hour during the April 2008 reference week, up 40 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $9.65 per hour, up 30 cents from last April, while livestock workers earned $10.32 per hour compared with $9.59 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $9.87 per hour, was up 45 cents from last year.

The number of hours worked averaged 41.0 hours for hired workers during the survey week, up 1 percent from a year ago. The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California and in the Delta (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina), Mountain I (Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming), and Southern Plains (Oklahoma and Texas) regions. In California, planted acreage of cotton, dry beans, and sugar beets declined sharply from 2007. Therefore, the demand for field workers was considerably lower. Excessive rain and flooding in the Delta region curtailed most field
activities and lessened the need for field workers. In the Southeast region, wet conditions and low soil temperatures delayed corn and cotton planting in Alabama and Georgia, reducing the demand for field workers. Snow and cold temperatures across most of the Mountain I region halted planting activity until late in the week, and calving and lam bing were behind normal. These factors led to reduced demand for field and livestock workers. In the Southern Plains region, heavy rains in Oklahoma more than offset the drier conditions in Texas and delayed planting of row crops, resulting in fewer hired workers.

The largest increases in the number of hi3wwwred workers from last year occurred in the Appalachian I (North Carolina and Virginia), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia), Northeast I (New England and New York), Pacific (Oregon and Washington), and Northern Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) regions. Strong demand from poultry operations and from the nursery and greenhouse industries in the Appalachian I region caused hired worker numbers to be higher. In the Appalachian II region, strong demand from the equine and cattle industries led to an increase in hired workers. Last year's reference week weather in the Northeast I region was plagued by frigid temperatures and snow. A return to more normal weather patterns this year resulted in a greater need for hired workers. In the Pacific region, increased demand from fruit growers and from the nursery and greenhouse industries kept worker numbers above the previous year. Heavy snow in parts of the Northern Plains region caused livestock stress which led to more supplemental feeding and increased the need for hired workers.

Hired worker wage rates were generally above a year ago in most regions. The largest increases occurred in the Mountain III (Arizona and New Mexico), Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Corn Belt II (Iowa and Missouri), Southeast and Appalachian I regions. In the Mountain III and Corn Belt I regions, the higher wages were due to a larger proportion of salaried workers putting in fewer hours, which pushed the average hourly wage higher. The wage increase in the Corn Belt II region was due to a smaller percentage of part time workers. In the Southeast and Appalachian I regions, the higher wages resulted from a higher proportion of nursery and greenhouse workers.