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Farm Wages Up 8% in Northeast I

Wages increased sharply by 8% since last year for hired farm workers in the Northeast I region that includes New York and the New England states, according to USDA’s quarterly farm labor survey. Table 1 below summarizes wage rates for field, livestock, and all hired farm employees in April 2019, Table 2 contains the same data for April 2018, one year earlier. The “all hired workers” category includes all field and livestock employees, supervisors and managers. Field workers experienced the biggest gain of 11% or $1.54/hour more than last year. Wages for all farm employees increased at a slower rate of 5% in the Northeast II region (PA, MD, NJ, DE), and at a rate of 7% in the U.S. overall. All hired farm employee wages are almost $1.00 higher in Northeast I than in Northeast II and $.90 higher than in the U.S. overall. Northeast I farm wages are some of the highest overall, trailing only the Pacific Northwest, California, and Hawaii. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics private-industry, non-farm U.S. wages increased by 3% from March 2018 to March 2019.

It’s important to note that USDA’s wage data includes only regular cash wages and salary. Other pay and benefits “such as cash bonuses, housing, or meals, provided to an employee in addition to pay” are not included.

Table 1. USDA-NASS Farm Labor Wage Rates, April 7-13, 2019
Field                      Livestock           Field and Livestock Combined All Hired Workers
Northeast I 14.98 14.02 14.50 15.61
Northeast II 13.55 13.40 13.50 14.63
U.S. 13.80 13.61 13.73 14.71

 

Table 2. USDA-NASS Farm Labor Wage Rates, April 8-14, 2018
Field                      Livestock           Field and Livestock Combined All Hired Workers
Northeast I 13.44 13.03 13.25 14.46
Northeast II 13.37 12.68 13.10 13.89
U.S. 12.72 12.78 12.74 13.72

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By Richard Stup, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution.
The post Farm Wages Up 8% in Northeast I appeared first on Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development

5 Learning Opportunities in 2 Webinars for Farmers

NYSDOL’s Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs (DIPA) is hosting a series of short, interactive webinars for farms. Register with DIPA to learn and ask questions about several important topics. See details below and find an event flyer at this link: 2019 Lunchtime Learning Webinars.

NYSDOL message follows…

The New York State Department of Labor’s Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs (DIPA) is hosting FREE lunch time webinars for farmers. View and listen to a 20MINUTE PRESENTATION while submitting your questions via the chat box. Then we will take 10 minutes of questions! We will then move on to the next topic. Attend one, two or all the sessions!

ON JUNE 4, 2019, WE WILL DISCUSS THESE TOPICS:
11:30-12:00: Why Does DIPA Visit My Farm Every Year?
12:00-12:30: What do I need to Know about the New Sexual Harassment Training Requirements?

ON JUNE 6, 2019, WE WILL DISCUSS THESE H2A PROGRAM TOPICS:
11:30-12:00: H-2A Program + NYS Labor Law Compliance = Successful H-2A Application?
12:00-12:30: H-2A Housing Inspections: What do I need to Know?
12:30-1:00: I Received a “Referral of Domestic Applicant,” What Do I Do Now?
Please E-mail dipa@labor.ny.gov to register for these important sessions.
For questions, call Caylin Gwise at 585-258-8855.

Unemployment Hits 50 Year Low and Ag Robots Are On the Horizon

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the April jobs report showing that employers created 263,000 jobs and pushed the unemployment rate down to 3.6%. That is the lowest rate of unemployment since December of 1969, almost 50 years ago, according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Unemployment declined for almost all demographic groups in the country. The average weekly hours worked across private-sector, nonfarm jobs was 34.4 hours and the average overtime worked in manufacturing jobs was 3.4 hours, according to BLS. From the employer perspective, in other words, it’s the tightest job market in 50 years. Average weekly earnings for April 2019 was $785.55 compared to $762.19 in April 2018, an increase of 3%.

We’re simply running out of people to fill jobs in this country but robots are coming more quickly than we might have thought. Agricultural engineers at the Dutch university, Wageningen UR claim that in agriculture robots will “be doing all the menial, repetitive work in 10 to 20 years from now.” This is largely driven by the difficult and repetitive nature of much frontline farm work and by the worldwide shortage of farm employees. Earlier this year an apple picking robot was commercially used in New Zealand. Will robots eliminate all jobs in agriculture, certainly not! Automation and mechanization have been part of agriculture for at least 150 years already. There will always be need for skilled agriculturists who understand plant and animal biology, can organize production, keep machines running, work effectively with others to solve problems, and can market their products successfully. Exciting times are ahead as we learn to make the most of rapidly developing robotic technologies!

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By Richard Stup, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution.
The post Unemployment Hits 50 Year Low and Ag Robots Are On the Horizon appeared first on Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development