More ag laborers are working this year compared to a year ago, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor report for 2022. The report, released Nov. 23, 2022, includes the Mountain I region, consisting of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

Lynn Jaynes

Emeritus Editor

Lynn Jaynes retired as an editor in 2023.

The Mountain I region reported 30,000 farm workers total, with 24,000 expected to work 150 days or more, for an average of 46.3 hours per week, during the week of Oct. 9-15, 2022. Field workers were paid an average of $15.77 per hour, livestock workers were paid an average of $15.68 per hour and those who performed field and livestock work combined earned an average of $15.73 per hour.

Working backward through the year, this was an increase in the number of total ag workers from the week of July 10-16, 2022, which reported 29,000 ag workers total. Gross wages were commensurate but lagged slightly at $15.51 for field workers and $15.65 per hour for livestock workers in the late-summer report.

January 2022 started with only 15,000 ag workers in the Mountain I region, with 14,000 expecting to be employed 150 days or more. Work weeks were reported at 44.1 hours. January saw slightly higher wages compared to November, with $16.42 per hour for field workers, $15.58 for livestock workers and $15.78 for those pulling both duties.

A year ago, in October 2021, the USDA reported 23,000 workers in the Mountain I region as working an average of 45.2 hours per week. Although inflation was manifest more strongly as the 2022 year progressed, ag worker wages did not improve from 2021. Field workers received an average of $15.13 per hour and livestock workers received an average of $15.24 per hour in 2022.

The full report can be accessed here.