NASS reports farm wages up a little

There were 1,092,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of October 11-17, 2009, down two percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 807,000 workers were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 285,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $10.91 per hour during the October 2009 reference week, up 21 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $10.25 per hour, up 20 cents from last October, while livestock workers earned $10.23 per hour compared with $10.21 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $10.24 per hour, was up 15 cents from last year.

The number of hours worked averaged 39.0 hours for hired workers during the survey week, down six percent from a year ago.

The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California, and in the Appalachian I (North Carolina and Virginia), Southern Plains (Oklahoma and Texas), and Delta (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) regions. In northern and central California, heavy rains from the remnants of Typhoon Melor caused major fieldwork delays. Therefore, fewer hired workers were needed. Weather conditions in the Appalachian I, Southern Plains, and Delta regions were considerably wetter compared with last year's relatively dry period, and fieldwork was seriously curtailed for several days. This led to a decreased demand for hired workers.

The largest increases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in the Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Pacific (Oregon and Washington), Florida, Mountain II (Colorado, Nevada, and Utah), and Northeast II (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) regions. In the Corn Belt I region, continued strong demand from the equine and horticulture industries kept worker numbers higher than last year, despite the extremely wet conditions. Potato and corn harvests in the Pacific region were in high gear in an attempt to beat oncoming rains, causing stronger demand for field workers. In Florida, the reference week was much drier compared with last year when two to three inches of rain fell statewide, allowing fieldwork to progress rapidly. Therefore, hired worker demand increased. Strong demand from the dairy and horticulture industries in the Mountain II and Northeast II regions pushed worker numbers above the previous year.

Hired worker wage rates were generally above a year ago in most regions. The largest increases occurred in the Mountain II, Northern Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota), Appalachian II (Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia), Northeast II, and Delta regions. The higher wages in the Appalachian II region were due to a higher percentage of workers on equine farms and on nursery and greenhouse operations. In the remaining regions cited, the higher wages were due to a lower percentage of part time workers.

The 2009 U.S. all hired worker annual average wage rate was $10.82 per hour, up two percent from the 2008 annual average wage rate of $10.59 per hour. The U.S. field worker annual average wage rate was $10.07 per hour, up 29 cents from last year's annual average. The field and livestock worker combined annual average wage rate at the U.S. level was $10.11 per hour, up two percent from last year's annual average wage rate of $9.89 per hour.

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