The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service recently released its annual farm labor report that shows farm wages are higher than last year.
During the reference week of Jan. 8-14, 2012, there were 575,000 workers hired directly by farm operators on the nation’s farms and ranches. That number is down five percent from last year.
However, farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $11.52 per hour, up nearly two percent from 2011. Livestock workers averaged $10.95 an hour, compared with $10.52 a year ago.