I'm asking because we are in competition for labor in our area.birddog7000 said:
Yes, labor is very difficult to find. We use a large (8-12 guys depending on job size) labor crew for about 1/3 of the year. These guys work for the guy who we contract them through the other 2/3 of the year harvesting crops and roguing corn/various other seed corn operations that require semi-skilled farm labor. We pay $26/hour for them on contract. They get themselves to the site and pay for their hotel room. We use them for spraying mesquite, all over the State. We treat these guys very well because they are so important to our work and in such short supply.
Just curious, why are you asking these questions?
yippee2 said:
To narrow it down -
Can you find M-F farm labor in Texas and how much does it cost per hour.
How does the different ag sectors compare - like Citrus harvest verses Turf farms. Or Ranch hands verses Row Crop farms
Have you seen a increase or decrease in labor since the borders are open?
Micropterus said:
This might be of some interest
https://agfax.com/2021/02/01/south-african-h-2a-guest-workers-given-exemption-from-travel-ban-dtn/
Just go ahead and post the link to your survey so you can get an extra 5 points on your final exam or whatever extra credit you're trying to getyippee2 said:
Help me out with a little info.
Are you having trouble finding labor?
What do you pay per hour?
Your location and type of Ag work?
How's his skin - thick? I agree it'd be great for him but like most ranches, my ranch hands and vaqueros would haze him a lot (not physically) but he'd be doing a lot of snipe hunting.Senator Blutarski said:
So, if a 15 year old, hardworking, unskilled, suburban Austin boy wants to spend some time working on a farm or ranch this summer (when he's not at summer camp), what's the best way to find work? Check with a local coop, put his number up at a hardware store, craigslist?
I'd love to see him spend time on both a cattle ranch and another working some sort of harvest, just to make sure he knows how the world works. The larger the operation, the better. Any good ideas in this regard?
Does he know about this yet?Senator Blutarski said:
So, if a 15 year old, hardworking, unskilled, suburban Austin boy wants to spend some time working on a farm or ranch this summer (when he's not at summer camp), what's the best way to find work? Check with a local coop, put his number up at a hardware store, craigslist?
I'd love to see him spend time on both a cattle ranch and another working some sort of harvest, just to make sure he knows how the world works. The larger the operation, the better. Any good ideas in this regard?
Senator Blutarski said:
So, if a 15 year old, hardworking, unskilled, suburban Austin boy wants to spend some time working on a farm or ranch this summer (when he's not at summer camp), what's the best way to find work? Check with a local coop, put his number up at a hardware store, craigslist?
I'd love to see him spend time on both a cattle ranch and another working some sort of harvest, just to make sure he knows how the world works. The larger the operation, the better. Any good ideas in this regard?
Umm, .... , so, why did you refer to him as "unskilled"Senator Blutarski said:
You guys have the wrong idea so far. He's worked plenty driving t-posts, trenching new and repairing old water lines, spraying mesquite, etc. on 100+ degree days in Webb and Dimmit counties. He has plenty of experience with the ag exempt / hobby ranch / hunting place type work.
The idea is to have him exposed to something larger to see where the product becomes the business. Years ago, I was with a young commodity trader from Chicago when he met a cotton farmer. He was asking questions 100 mph trying to learn more about how cotton farming actually worked, to see how it impacted futures trading, which he was still learning. The idea is more about exposure.
Why not? Sounds like a young man I wouldn't hesitate to get trained on one.Senator Blutarski said:
If driving a t-post and spraying mesquite is skilled . . . then I guess he is skilled. I just meant that he's probably not ready to hop on a $500K combine.
fightingfarmer09 said:yippee2 said:
To narrow it down -
Can you find M-F farm labor in Texas and how much does it cost per hour.
How does the different ag sectors compare - like Citrus harvest verses Turf farms. Or Ranch hands verses Row Crop farms
Have you seen a increase or decrease in labor since the borders are open?
Yes and no to all of those. I feel like I'm doing your political science homework. Just spit out what you are looking for.
This information is readily available online:
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Texas/Publications/Current_News_Release/2021_Rls/spr-labor-02-2021.pdf
The border issue has a minimal immediate impact on labor. Even in horticulture when I was working with 300+ workers a day. Most of it is already hired. And a lot of the southern labor is based out of Mexico anyway. "Unskilled" labor is still very skilled for what they are paid. Because speed and mistake free work is a premium.
ETA: You are looking at this issue wrong by trying to compare wages of citrus to turf.
Wages are more likely influenced by English proficiency, mechanically inclined, trustworthiness, and skill set.
A guy on a ladder picking oranges makes less than the guy driving a lawnmower on a turf farm, but the guy running the irrigation on a citrus farm makes more than him. And the guy that speaks English and can tell the others what to do makes more than them.
SquanchyAg said:fightingfarmer09 said:yippee2 said:
To narrow it down -
Can you find M-F farm labor in Texas and how much does it cost per hour.
How does the different ag sectors compare - like Citrus harvest verses Turf farms. Or Ranch hands verses Row Crop farms
Have you seen a increase or decrease in labor since the borders are open?
Yes and no to all of those. I feel like I'm doing your political science homework. Just spit out what you are looking for.
This information is readily available online:
https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Texas/Publications/Current_News_Release/2021_Rls/spr-labor-02-2021.pdf
The border issue has a minimal immediate impact on labor. Even in horticulture when I was working with 300+ workers a day. Most of it is already hired. And a lot of the southern labor is based out of Mexico anyway. "Unskilled" labor is still very skilled for what they are paid. Because speed and mistake free work is a premium.
ETA: You are looking at this issue wrong by trying to compare wages of citrus to turf.
Wages are more likely influenced by English proficiency, mechanically inclined, trustworthiness, and skill set.
A guy on a ladder picking oranges makes less than the guy driving a lawnmower on a turf farm, but the guy running the irrigation on a citrus farm makes more than him. And the guy that speaks English and can tell the others what to do makes more than them.
If it's such a chore and you are doing his homework, then just don't spend time answering him. Easy peezy, Mr busy bee.
No joke. My manager/worker is 75 years old, when he finally quits/retires I'm certain I'll be lucky to replace him with a spry 60+ year old.WildAg08 said:
South Texas - Row Crop, Cattle and Hay.
Labor is next to nonexistent.
To be fair we were spoiled before. Much like the producers, a lot of the labor is aging out.
We've got some guys coming out of retirement. "Unskilled" hands that understand hydrology and water dynamics of these old farms like nobody's business.
What do you have in the way of jobs for lazy, semi-retired old farts who spend too much time on the computer?jtp01 said:
Good farm labor is hard to come by and when you do it's expensive. I farm and work in the irrigation industry and could probably place over 100 pivot technicians in various parts of the state/my territory.
Been there, done that. Depends on how many I have to climb per day, and if I get to pick and choose when I work. Need lots of down time, don't you know. Also need a 4-wheeler, I ain't walking 1/2 mile in mud.jtp01 said:
Depends upon how many pivot towers you want to climb and troubleshoot.
CenterHillAg said:
I'm on the aerial application side of things. I pay loader hands $25/hr, it's a part time job though. It's not terribly physical, but the mixing and amount of chemical has to be done correctly or it can turn into a huge costly mistake, so I pay a premium for guys that can do the job right.
My friends that have full time guys pay them $14-20/hr, 40 hrs guaranteed and upwards of 100 hrs in the busy season. Those jobs are a lot more physical because of the amount of rice work they do, lots of loading dry fertilizer. 2 of the best hands I know are young felons, great guys that work hard and have done a good job of turning their lives around.
