Regional farm worker pay drops slightly

During the reference week of April 10-16, 2023, there were 27,000 workers hired directly by farms in Iowa and Missouri, according to the latest USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Farm Labor report on the two states, known as the “Cornbelt II Region.”

Farm operators in the region paid their hired workers an average wage rate of $18.25 per hour during the April 2023 reference week, 27 cents below April 2022. The number of hours worked averaged 39.7 for hired workers during the reference week, compared with 36 hours in April 2022.

Those numbers are also down from the previous measurement period in January of 2023, when regional farm operators paid their workers an average of $19.05 per hour according to the same USDA data.

The numbers show a slightly higher average hourly rate for livestock workers compared to field workers for the region, continuing a trend that began in April of last year.

Nationwide, farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of $18.08 per hour during the April 2023 reference week, up 5 percent from the April 2022 reference week. Field workers received an average of $17.26 per hour, up 5 percent. Livestock workers earned $16.48 per hour, up 4 percent. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate, at $16.99 per hour, was up 4 percent from the 2022 reference week. Hired laborers worked an average of 40.6 hours during the April 2023 reference week, up 2 percent from the hours worked during the April 2022 reference week.