More Farm Workers Being Paid More

The National Agricultural Statistics Service recently released its biannual Farm Labor Report in which NASS interviewed farmers and ranchers across the U.S. to obtain information on the number of agricultural workers, hours worked and wage rates at the national and regional levels. The number of workers hired directly by farm operators in the U.S. the week of July 8th, 906 thousand to be exact, was up nearly nine percent from the same week a year ago. And for the week of October 7th there were 872 thousand workers reported, more than five percent from October 2011. The average farm worker was paid $11.36 per hour in July. That amount is up four percent from last year. Livestock workers averaged $10.89 per hour, and field workers averaged $11.22, with the average number of hours worked per week in October being 41.5. Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and Arizona had the biggest increases in farm wages. The Northern Plains had the highest average wage for all hired workers at $12.86, whereas the Pacific Northwest’s was $12.45.