This report examines the demographic and employment characteristics, geographic distribution, and earnings of the agricultural work force in the United States as of 1985. Data are from the Agricultural Work Force Supplement to the December 1985 Current Population Survey. The three components of the agricultural work force--hired farmworkers, farm…

Due to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's definition of a farm as an "economic unit which produces at least $1,000 worth of agricultural products a year", more than 570,000 farms were eliminated from the 1975 agricultural census. In addition, over 12,000 farms went out of business, continuing a trend begun in 1940. Although American food prices…

Drawing upon information provided by a continuous sample of social security records for the 1955-59 period, this study traced year-by-year employment experience of workers who left agriculture, and described their age, race, income, and job status. Estimates of backflow to farms were also studied. The gross out-movement from farm employment was…

Obtaining a sufficient supply of labor when it is needed is a problem faced by most farmers annually because of the very seasonal nature of farming. Even with mechanization and family labor, most farmers need to hire some help. This report summarizes the results of a survey conducted in 1966 to determine: (1) methods used to obtain seasonal…

An interagency system, geared to improve and create jobs for farm workers in Fresno County, California, is described. Key parts of the system include short training courses for workers, teacher training for bilingual agricultural specialists, and labor management workshops for employers. (Author/MS)

Such factors as type of farm, farm production region, and farm size affect the percentage of farms hiring workers, the number of hours worked by hired workers, the length of the farm workweek, and the hours of labor used per $100 of sales. Labor costs and shortages most directly affected farms that sold $20,000 or more of farm products in 1964 and…

Farm labor contractors (FLCs) have become increasingly important in California agriculture. This report examines FLC background characteristics, business practices, and relationships with employers and farm workers, many of whom are seasonal and migrant workers. Over 300 FLCs, farm workers, and growers were interviewed in five California regions.…

Based on data in the 1966 Pesticide and General Farm Survey, a comparison of labor-use practices of different types and sizes of farms showed that family workers were still the major source of farm manpower in 1966. Over half the farms with sales under $2,500 used only family labor, yet only 6 percent of the large-scale farms operated with just…

This paper identifies individual and institutional factors which have facilitated or inhibited the achievement of successful black farmers. The information derived from the case studies is used to develop a model which can be used in working effectively with black farmers. The thirteen case studies discussed focus on the following: (1) reasons for…

Large numbers of people are still employed in production, marketing, and processing of flue-cured tobacco in eight agricultural subregions in five southeastern states. Mechanization and new technology which is being introduced could result in substantial economic and social problems unless new economic opportunities are developed. However,…

The crisis in Jamaican agriculture is due to environmental factors like climate conditions and to social and economic factors like the plantation system. Along with mining, tourism, and manufacturing, agriculture has a key role to play in the Jamaican economy. Suggests ways to improve productivity by aid to family farms. (CS)

In an effort to understand the nationwide problem of recruitment, training, and retention of farm workers, 28 representative New York farm operators with a reputation for success in dealing with hired workers were interviewed in the summer of 1966. Information obtained included personal and educational characteristics, attitudes and aspirations,…

Interviews conducted with 36 farmers and 175 migrant farmworkers in western New York showed a substantial change in the role of the crew leader during the period from 1951, when no federal or state laws regulated crew leader-migrant relations, to 1978, when a complex set of regulations interceded in the relationship. Farmer interviews showed that…

To investigate the effect of technological change upon farm labor use, a stratified random sample of 696 farm workers from a population of 12,215 in Kern County, California, provided a basis for analysis. Some major findings were: (1) The high peak of seasonal labor use has been eliminated, (2) The need for migratory labor is decreasing, (3)…

The study concerns the impact of nonfarm employment opportunities on the hired farm labor force and is based on surveys of labor on farms near one new, one expanded, and one old-established town in eastern England, supplemented with findings of other British studies on mobility of farm workers. The main questions considered are the influence of…