Farm Labor in Michigan Vera Bitsch Dept of Agricultural, Food, - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Farm Labor in Michigan Vera Bitsch Dept of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University

Value of Ag Products Sold in Michigan 2 0 0 7 Grain, beans Vegetables Fruits Ornamental Other crops Poulty, eggs Cattle, calves Milk, dairy Hogs, pigs Other animals Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Michigan’s Ag Ranks Market Value Commodity Group U.S. Rank (Million Dollar) Grains, oilseed, dry beans, and dry peas 1,711 13 Vegetable, melons, potatoes, and sweet potatoes 347 9 Fruits, tree nuts, and berries 392 5 Nursery, greenhouse, floriculture, and sod 623 6 Cut Christmas trees, short rotation woody crops 29 3 Other crops and hay 227 14 Poultry and eggs 259 25 Cattle and calves 449 28 Milk and other dairy products from cows 1,286 7 Hogs and pigs 357 12 Sheep, goats, and their products 9 20 Horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys 24 16 Aquaculture 6 28 Other animals and other animals products 34 10 Market value of agricultural products 5,753 22

Top States w ith Labor I ntensive Crops Fruits+ Flowers+ Vegetables+  CA  CA  CA  FL  FL  FL  WA  OR  AZ  OR  PA  WA  MI  TX  ID  MI

Payroll & Hired W orkers Payroll (Million Hired Worker State Dollar) (Thousand) Michigan 607 86 Wisconsin 785 76 Minnesota 522 77 Lake States (Total) 1,914 239 California 5,016 448 Florida 1,209 115 Texas 1,170 155 Washington 1,151 238 Oregon 817 106 U.S. (total) 21,878 2,637

Labor Expenses Michigan U.S. ( total) 700,000 30,000,000 600,000 25,000,000 L a b o r E x p e n s e s / $ 1 , 0 0 0 L a b o r E x p e n s e s / $ 1 0 0 0 500,000 20,000,000 400,000 Contract labor Contract labor 15,000,000 Hired labor Hired labor 300,000 10,000,000 200,000 5,000,000 100,000 0 0 1997 2002 2007 1997 2002 2007 Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Contract Labor in Labor I ntensive Crops  U.S. (total)  Fruits and tree nuts 36.0%  Vegetables, melons 28.6%  Ornamentals 6.1%  Michigan  Fruits and tree nuts 10.8%  Vegetables, melons 4.9%  Ornamentals 4.3%

Labor I ntensity in Michigan Production Labor Expenses/Total Expenses 40% 30% 1997 20% 2002 2007 10% 0% s s s s s s l s s s k a l l n p t g n t g a l o a t u i o o i o m i g t m p a l n n l r d T e r e e c e i , g e , n m s , e m r e e y a g , e l f r d r t a , h t o t s t , r e a l n e e H u t , e c e O t r h l o i l t O s b u t y t P a O l a r r i O F i c t a e f D g e e e V B Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Labor Productivity in MI Com m odity Group 1 9 9 7 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 7 Fruits, tree nuts 9 ,9 0 9 9 ,3 5 4 1 6 ,6 0 9 Vegetables, 2 2 ,2 0 2 2 7 ,7 5 2 3 0 ,7 4 3 m elons Ornam entals 2 2 ,5 4 0 3 3 ,4 1 1 3 6 ,6 2 4 Total 3 7 ,2 1 7 4 3 ,4 3 4 6 6 ,8 4 2 Dollar Sales/ W orker

Monetary Labor Productivity in MI Com m odity Group 1 9 9 7 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 7 Oilseed, grains 2 3 .5 2 2 1 .0 8 2 7 .5 1 Vegetables, 5 .5 1 5 .4 9 4 .6 5 m elons Fruits, tree nuts 4 .0 6 3 .2 5 3 .9 5 Ornam entals 3 .8 3 3 .8 6 3 .6 6 Dairy cattle, m ilk 1 0 .7 2 8 .7 7 1 0 .1 9 Total 8 .9 6 7 .4 7 8 .8 6

Labor Com position in MI W orkers Hired 1 9 9 7 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 7 Em ployed less 7 4 ,8 6 9 6 3 ,8 2 1 6 1 ,7 8 8 than 1 5 0 days Em ployed 1 5 0 2 0 ,9 9 6 2 3 ,0 3 4 2 4 ,2 8 4 days or m ore Total w orkers 9 5 ,8 6 5 8 6 ,8 5 5 8 6 ,0 7 2 hired

W age Rates – Lake States 12 11 Lake States US-Dollars/hour 10 Michigan Minnesota 9 Wisconsin 8 U.S. total 7 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Data Source: NASS

W age Rates – Michigan, Florida, Texas 12 11 US-Dollars/hour 10 Florida Texas 9 Michigan 8 7 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 Data Source: NASS

Since the 1 9 9 7 Ag Census  Expenses for hired farm labor increased by 64.4%  Expenses for contract labor increased by 46.6%  Of labor intensive crops, only fruit production saw a small increase in the share of contract labor in MI

Since the 1 9 9 7 Ag Census  As a share of total expenses, labor expenses increased slightly in vegetable and fruit farming, and declined in ornamental production  Sales increased per hired worker  Sales decreased per dollar of labor expenses

Since the 1 9 9 7 Ag Census  The number of hired workers fell, except in fruit farming  Number of worker employed less than 150 days fell  The share of workers employed 150 or more days grew, except for fruit farming were its similar to 1997

Betw een 1 9 9 7 and 2 0 0 7  Farm labor wage has grown by 46.1% or $3.29  Since Michigan’s farm wage rate decline in 2004, similar to U.S. average  Labor expenses have increased more than the wage rate

Conclusions  In labor intensive crops, sales increases have not kept up with labor expense increases  May result in pressure to reduce labor use, apply labor saving technology and production methods