Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tweet[IWS] NASS: FARM LABOR [21 August 2009]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Farm Labor [21 August 2009]
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1063
or
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/FarmLabo/FarmLabo-08-21-2009_new_format.pdf
[full-text, 21 pages]
[excerpt]
Special Note
NASS is in the process of modifying report layouts in order to improve readability. This is the first issue produced using
the new layout. This report issue is published using both layouts but future issues will only be produced using this layout.
The previous layout is available on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov .
Hired Workers Up 6 Percent, Wage Rates up 3 Percent From a Year Ago
There were 1,238,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of July 12-18, 2009, up 6 percent
from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 875,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service
employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 363,000 workers.
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.64 per hour during the July 2009 reference week, up
30 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $10.04 per hour, up 38 cents from last July, while
livestock workers earned $10.03 per hour compared with $9.98 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined
wage rate, at $10.04 per hour, was up 30 cents from last year.
The number of hours worked averaged 39.8 hours for hired workers during the survey week, down 2 percent from a year
ago.
The largest increases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California, and in the Lake (Michigan,
Minnesota, and Wisconsin), Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West
Virginia), and Pacific (Oregon and Washington) regions. Critically dry, deteriorating pastures in California led to
increased supplemental feeding and a stronger demand for livestock workers. In the Lake, Corn Belt I, and Appalachian II
regions, a cooler, drier reference week compared with last year's wet conditions allowed field activities to progress
rapidly. Therefore, more hired workers were necessary. Increased pear and grape acreage in the Pacific region heightened
the demand for hired workers. Also, hot, dry weather caused dryland pasture conditions to decline, which led to more
livestock movement to irrigated fields and increased supplemental feeding. These factors led to a stronger demand for
hired workers.
The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in Florida and in the Delta (Arkansas,
Louisiana, and Mississippi), and Mountain II (Colorado, Nevada, and Utah) regions. In Florida, declining demand from
the equine, dairy, and horticulture industries due to the continuing economic downturn kept the number of hired workers
below last year. Wet conditions in the Delta region compared with last year's dry reference week caused hired worker
demand to be lower. In the Mountain II region, development of most field crops remained behind normal due to the cool,
wet spring. Therefore, fewer hired workers were needed.
Hired worker wage rates were generally above a year ago in most regions. The largest increases occurred in the Pacific,
Corn Belt II (Iowa and Missouri), and Mountain III (Arizona and New Mexico) regions, and in Florida. The higher wages
in the Pacific region were due to strong demand for highly skilled workers on fruit operations. In the Corn Belt II region
and in Florida, there were more salaried workers working fewer hours. This pushed the average wage higher. In the
Mountain III region, a higher percentage of nursery and greenhouse workers caused the average wage to increase.
Contents
Hired Workers and Wage Rates, United States, with Comparisons ..................................................................5
Number of Workers and Hours Worked by Region and United States: July 12-18, 2009 ................................6
Wage Rates by Type of Worker by Region and United States: July 12-18, 2009 .............................................7
Number of Workers and Hours Worked by Region and United States: April 12-18, 2009...............................8
Wage Rates by Type of Worker by Region and United States: April 12-18, 2009 ...........................................9
Number of Workers and Hours Worked by Region and United States: July 6-12, 2008 ................................10
Wage Rates by Type of Worker by Region and United States: July 6-12, 2008 .............................................11
Combined Field and Livestock Worker Wage Rates, by Type of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 6-12, 2008 .........................................................................................................................12
Combined Field and Livestock Worker Wage Rates, by Type of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 12-18, 2009 .......................................................................................................................12
All Hired Worker Wage Rates by Economic Class of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 6-12, 2008 .........................................................................................................................13
All Hired Worker Wage Rates by Economic Class of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 12-19, 2009 .......................................................................................................................13
Field and Livestock Workers by Type of Farm ...............................................................................................14
Hired Workers by Economic Class of Farm....................................................................................................14
Hired Workers by Number of Workers on Farm .............................................................................................14
Number of Agricultural Service Workers, Hours Worked, and Wage Rates for California,
Florida, and United States...............................................................................................................................15
Farm Labor Regions .......................................................................................................................................16
Farm Labor Definitions ..................................................................................................................................17
Survey Methodology.......................................................................................................................................19
Information Contacts ......................................................................................................................................20
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Farm Labor [21 August 2009]
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1063
or
http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/FarmLabo/FarmLabo-08-21-2009_new_format.pdf
[full-text, 21 pages]
[excerpt]
Special Note
NASS is in the process of modifying report layouts in order to improve readability. This is the first issue produced using
the new layout. This report issue is published using both layouts but future issues will only be produced using this layout.
The previous layout is available on the NASS website: www.nass.usda.gov .
Hired Workers Up 6 Percent, Wage Rates up 3 Percent From a Year Ago
There were 1,238,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of July 12-18, 2009, up 6 percent
from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 875,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service
employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 363,000 workers.
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.64 per hour during the July 2009 reference week, up
30 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $10.04 per hour, up 38 cents from last July, while
livestock workers earned $10.03 per hour compared with $9.98 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined
wage rate, at $10.04 per hour, was up 30 cents from last year.
The number of hours worked averaged 39.8 hours for hired workers during the survey week, down 2 percent from a year
ago.
The largest increases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California, and in the Lake (Michigan,
Minnesota, and Wisconsin), Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West
Virginia), and Pacific (Oregon and Washington) regions. Critically dry, deteriorating pastures in California led to
increased supplemental feeding and a stronger demand for livestock workers. In the Lake, Corn Belt I, and Appalachian II
regions, a cooler, drier reference week compared with last year's wet conditions allowed field activities to progress
rapidly. Therefore, more hired workers were necessary. Increased pear and grape acreage in the Pacific region heightened
the demand for hired workers. Also, hot, dry weather caused dryland pasture conditions to decline, which led to more
livestock movement to irrigated fields and increased supplemental feeding. These factors led to a stronger demand for
hired workers.
The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in Florida and in the Delta (Arkansas,
Louisiana, and Mississippi), and Mountain II (Colorado, Nevada, and Utah) regions. In Florida, declining demand from
the equine, dairy, and horticulture industries due to the continuing economic downturn kept the number of hired workers
below last year. Wet conditions in the Delta region compared with last year's dry reference week caused hired worker
demand to be lower. In the Mountain II region, development of most field crops remained behind normal due to the cool,
wet spring. Therefore, fewer hired workers were needed.
Hired worker wage rates were generally above a year ago in most regions. The largest increases occurred in the Pacific,
Corn Belt II (Iowa and Missouri), and Mountain III (Arizona and New Mexico) regions, and in Florida. The higher wages
in the Pacific region were due to strong demand for highly skilled workers on fruit operations. In the Corn Belt II region
and in Florida, there were more salaried workers working fewer hours. This pushed the average wage higher. In the
Mountain III region, a higher percentage of nursery and greenhouse workers caused the average wage to increase.
Contents
Hired Workers and Wage Rates, United States, with Comparisons ..................................................................5
Number of Workers and Hours Worked by Region and United States: July 12-18, 2009 ................................6
Wage Rates by Type of Worker by Region and United States: July 12-18, 2009 .............................................7
Number of Workers and Hours Worked by Region and United States: April 12-18, 2009...............................8
Wage Rates by Type of Worker by Region and United States: April 12-18, 2009 ...........................................9
Number of Workers and Hours Worked by Region and United States: July 6-12, 2008 ................................10
Wage Rates by Type of Worker by Region and United States: July 6-12, 2008 .............................................11
Combined Field and Livestock Worker Wage Rates, by Type of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 6-12, 2008 .........................................................................................................................12
Combined Field and Livestock Worker Wage Rates, by Type of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 12-18, 2009 .......................................................................................................................12
All Hired Worker Wage Rates by Economic Class of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 6-12, 2008 .........................................................................................................................13
All Hired Worker Wage Rates by Economic Class of Farm, by Region
and 48 States: July 12-19, 2009 .......................................................................................................................13
Field and Livestock Workers by Type of Farm ...............................................................................................14
Hired Workers by Economic Class of Farm....................................................................................................14
Hired Workers by Number of Workers on Farm .............................................................................................14
Number of Agricultural Service Workers, Hours Worked, and Wage Rates for California,
Florida, and United States...............................................................................................................................15
Farm Labor Regions .......................................................................................................................................16
Farm Labor Definitions ..................................................................................................................................17
Survey Methodology.......................................................................................................................................19
Information Contacts ......................................................................................................................................20
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 1:42 PM
