Source: UC DAVIS RURAL MIGRATION NEWS, July, 2021


Covid accelerated three changes in farm labor. First is the shift from direct to indirect employment in crop agriculture. There were 1.7 directly hired crop workers for each worker brought to farms by a crop support employer in 2020, but the ratio is falling as the FLC share of crop employment increases.

Second is the jump in weekly wages between 2019 and 2020 in low-wage sectors such as FLCs, where wages rose fastest. Third is more agricultural employers or establishments. Average employment per establishment was 11 for crop farms in 2010 and 2020, but the average for animal farms rose from eight to 10 and for FLCs from 54 to 60.

USDA’s Farm Labor Survey found that the employment of directly hired workers fell 11 percent between April 2020 and April 2021.

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