BOISE—Idaho’s overall average wage in 2014 was well below the national rate but the state’s average wage for farm sector workers was higher.
That news didn’t surprise University of Idaho agricultural economists.
“Farming in Idaho is higher tech and you have to pay those workers a little more,” said UI ag economist Garth Taylor. “A lot of it is simply that we have a more skilled labor force in Idaho than in other areas of the country ... and you have to pay those folks more to attract them.”
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, Idaho’s average wage in 2014 was $19.12 and its median wage was $14.93. The national average and median wages were $22.71 and $17.09.
But when it came to the farm sector, the tables were turned.
Idaho’s average and median wages for the farming sector were $14.05 and $11.28, while the national rates were $12.09 and $9.74.
UI ag economist Paul Patterson said those figures make sense given that “the skill level in a number of agricultural jobs in Idaho is going to be a little higher because of the mechanization we have in agriculture in Idaho. In order to get the people they want, (farmers) have to be competitive.”
The Idaho farm sector wages, which were summarized by Idaho Department of Labor officials, were based on 5,830 positions, including 1,740 farm laborers, 440 ag equipment operators, 1,370 graders and sorters, 660 people who work with animals and fish, 260 front-line supervisors and manages and 24 ag inspectors.
The total also included 1,000 logging jobs. When those jobs are factored out, Idaho’s average and median wages for farm sector workers were still higher than the national rates but the numbers were a little closer, especially for laborers.
According to IDL spokesman Bob Fick, who helped compile the comparisons, the average wage for farm laborers in Idaho last year was $10.72 for those who work with crops and $13.16 for those who work with livestock.
The average wage for farm laborers nationally was $10.01 for those who worked with crops and $12.10 for those who worked with livestock.
Source: www.capitalpress.com