Direct and Contract Hiring of Seasonal Farm Labor
Author: Sellers, Walter E., Jr.
Date Published: 1972
Methods used to obtain seasonal workers in 1966, number of seasonal workers per farm, and hours of such labor per farm varied by type of farm and production region. More tobacco and "other field crop" farmers hire seasonal workers directly than any other farmers. Although 84% of fruit farms and nearly two-thirds of vegetable farms use seasonal workers, and livestock farmers were least likely to use seasonal workers, but when they did, they often used contract labor. Most farmers in the three Southern regions preferred the direct-hire method over contracting, whereas in the mid-continent, contracting is often used. Hiring practices also vary by size of farm--31 percent of the smaller vegetable farms hired contract labor, compared with 50 percent of the largest such farms. The same pattern occurred on tobacco farms, but the percentage of cash grain and livestock farms contracting for labor decreased on the larger farms. Vegetable and fruit farms had larger crews and used more hours of seasonal labor per farm than any other type of farm.
Date Published: 1972
Methods used to obtain seasonal workers in 1966, number of seasonal workers per farm, and hours of such labor per farm varied by type of farm and production region. More tobacco and "other field crop" farmers hire seasonal workers directly than any other farmers. Although 84% of fruit farms and nearly two-thirds of vegetable farms use seasonal workers, and livestock farmers were least likely to use seasonal workers, but when they did, they often used contract labor. Most farmers in the three Southern regions preferred the direct-hire method over contracting, whereas in the mid-continent, contracting is often used. Hiring practices also vary by size of farm--31 percent of the smaller vegetable farms hired contract labor, compared with 50 percent of the largest such farms. The same pattern occurred on tobacco farms, but the percentage of cash grain and livestock farms contracting for labor decreased on the larger farms. Vegetable and fruit farms had larger crews and used more hours of seasonal labor per farm than any other type of farm.
