Farm Operators Hiring More Workers at Higher Pay

WASHINGTON, DC – Despite the outbreak of coronavirus across the country, farm operators have hired more workers this year, than in 2019, according to a new report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The April 2020 Farm Labor Survey found the number of hired workers, hours worked and wages earned during January and April, and results were gathered during the last two weeks of the month. During the second week of January, 568,000 workers were hired directly by farmers and ranchers, a 14 percent year over year increase. For the second week of April, NASS says farm operators employed 688,000, a 9 percent increase over the same time in 2019. Average wages were $15.28 per hour during January, a 2 percent annual increase, as the average worker logged 40.2 hours per week – also a 2 percent increase over 2019. For April, farm operators paid their hired workers an average of $15.07 per hour, up 2 percent while on average they worked slightly less than in 2019, 40.3 hours per week.