By Ben Nuelle
Workers hired by farm operators increased 8 percent from last year. The Farm Labor Report was released last Thursday.
Workers hired directly by farm operators numbered 841,000 for the reference week of October 11-17, 2015, up 8 percent from the October 2014 reference week. There were 872,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the Nation’s farms and ranches during the week of July 12-18, 2015, up 4 percent
from a year ago.
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $12.82 per hour during the October 2015 reference week, up 6 percent from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $12.11 per hour, up 5 percent from a year earlier. Livestock workers earned $12.02, up 6 percent. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $12.09 per hour, was up 5 percent
from October 2014. Hired laborers worked an average of 41.7 hours during the October 2015 reference week, compared with 41.3 hours a year earlier.
The 2015 U.S. all hired worker annual average wage rate was $12.54 per hour, up 4 percent from the 2014 annual average wage. The 2015 U.S. field worker annual average wage rate was $11.72 per hour, up 4 percent from the 2014 annual average. The 2015 U.S. annual average combined wage for field and
livestock workers was $11.74, up 4 percent from the 2014 annual average of $11.29 per hour.
