There were 767,000 hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of January 10-16, 2010, down 2 percent from a year ago. Of these hired workers, 587,000 were hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 180,000 workers.

Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $11.06 per hour during the January 2010 reference week, up 13 cents from a year earlier. Field workers received an average of $10.14 per hour, up 18 cents from last January, while livestock workers earned $10.26 per hour compared with $10.27 a year earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $10.19 per hour, was up 11 cents from last year. The number of hours worked averaged 37.3 hours for hired workers during the survey week, down 3 percent from a year ago.

The largest decreases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in California, and in the Southern Plains (Oklahoma and Texas), Southeast (Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina), and Northeast I (New England and New York) regions. Moderate to heavy rains over most of California caused major fieldwork delays. Therefore, fewer hired workers were needed. In the Southern Plains region, weather conditions were considerably wetter compared with last year's relatively dry period, and fieldwork was curtailed for several days. This led to a decreased demand for hired workers.

Below normal temperatures and wet soils in the Southeast region halted cotton and soybean harvests, reducing the need for hired workers. In the Northeast I region, cold, snowy weather hindered most outside farm activities, and reduced the need for hired workers.

The largest increases in the number of hired workers from last year occurred in Florida, and in the Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), Northeast II (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), Corn Belt II (Iowa and Missouri), and Lake (Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin) regions. In Florida, freezing temperatures caused producers of oranges, vegetables, strawberries, sugarcane, and nursery crops to scramble to minimize crop damage. Therefore,
demand for hired workers was considerably higher. Larger hog inventories in the Corn Belt I region increased the demand for livestock workers. Also, late corn harvest was ongoing, and above normal grain movement to market pushed field worker numbers above last year. In the Northeast II region, continued strong demand from the nursery and greenhouse industries led to more field workers being needed. The late corn harvest was also ongoing.

Mild conditions in the Corn Belt II region led to heightened movement of grain to market and increased the demand for hired workers. In the Lake region, above normal temperatures and very little precipitation allowed late corn harvest to progress. Therefore, more hired workers were necessary.

Hired worker wage rates were generally above a year ago in most regions. The largest increases occurred in the Mountain II (Colorado, Nevada, and Utah), Northern Plains (Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota), Florida, Northeast II, and Northeast I regions. Increased snow cover In the Mountain II region caused more supplemental feeding on cattle operations. This led to a greater demand for skilled workers.

In the Northern Plains region, late corn harvest raised the demand for skilled machine operators. This pushed the average wage higher than last year. The higher wages in Florida were due to a lower percentage of part time workers.

In the Northeast II region, a higher percentage of workers on nursery and greenhouse operations led to higher average wages. Salaried workers working fewer hours in the Northeast I region kept hourly wage levels above a year earlier.