Note from the author: This informal survey is the third of its type. Many academics, practitioners and trade journals participated in helping put out the word. We are most indebted to each one of you.

A special thanks, also, to the dairy farmers who took time to fill out the survey. I had hoped to move completely to an online survey, but about a third of our responses came in through the mail. The great advantage of the electronic responses includes ease in participation, which I hope will increase through the years.

Of the 189 responses, 70 were from the West; 44 from the Midwest; 24 from the Southeast; and 51 from the Northeast. We used the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Agricultural Statistics Service boundaries to determine where states fall in terms of regions. Some of these states do not fall where one might think, so do take a close look at where your state falls or give me a call or send an e-mail to find out.

In the first survey, we collected wage data for numerous job classifications in dairies, but seeing little difference in these wages between cow feeders, calf feeders, milkers and outside workers for the past two surveys, we have concentrated on milkers.

Milker wages
It was up to each dairy farmer to pick one milker and give us the number of years the person has been employed. Therefore, readers should not assume that milkers in one region have longer lengths of employment based on this study.

In 2003, we observed the West paid best, but we qualified the results since the West also had the longest average length of employment by far. In 2006, we note that as the reported average length of employment for other regions has risen, so has the average wage level (see Table 1*).

Average milker wages in 2006 were $9.69, compared to $9.25 in 2003 and $9.26 in 2000. Dairy farmers should keep in mind that these are indeed average wages and that there is a great amount of variability.

We can also look at wages, once again, in terms of increasingly longer lengths of employment. Average wages ranged from $8.97 for those employed three years or less to $11.69 for those employed 19 years or more. With data corrections (the 13 to 18 years showed lower than the 8 to 12 years in the actual data), we might have the data shown in Table 2*.

Foreign-born milkers
I have hypothesized:

1. the number of foreign-born milkers will increase through time, especially as Mexican and Central American workers move into regions where they were not utilized in the past

2. as foreign-born milkers increase, the number of female milkers is likely to decrease

Indeed, the percentages of foreign-born milkers increased substantially throughout the United States. Places such as California have, for a long time, had high percentages of foreign-born milkers and in 2006 showed 94 percent foreign-born. Yet the Western Region showed an increase in foreign-born workers. This is because of the way that the U.S. Department of Agriculture and National Agricultural Statistics Service categorizes states.

The Northeast had the greatest percentage increase in the employment of foreign milkers, from 3 percent in 2000 to 43 percent today (see Table 3*).

Female milkers
The number of foreign-born milkers is of special interest when contrasted to female milkers. One question of interest, to be answered by future surveys, will be to see if the number of female employees goes down as foreign workers move into an area.

The Southeast did not fit the pattern of other states; it had an increase in both foreign and female employees.

Other data of interest
A little over a third (36.5 percent) of the dairy farmers provided an incentive pay program of some sort, with some of these falling more closely in the category of a bonus than an incentive. The average milker earnings during the month of April, in terms of their incentive pay, was $286.

One-third of dairy employers provided some sort of health insurance. The average cost of this insurance, per month, was $377.

About two-thirds of dairymen provided vacation to their milkers (more than 10 days’ vacation on the average). A number of dairymen also provided additional pay in lieu of vacation.

About half of the dairies provided milkers with housing or a housing allowance. Eighteen percent paid a shift differential for more difficult shifts.

Labor supply outlook
In 2006, issues of immigration and labor supply have been on the forefront, so we included a couple of questions on labor availability.

We asked: Compared to 2003, how difficult was it to find labor? Of those who hired workers:

•4 percent found it much easier
•10 percent somewhat easier
•47 percent about the same
•19 percent somewhat more difficult
•21 percent much more difficult

Of those who reported changes, one-third felt the difference in labor availability was due mostly to internal changes they had made, but the remaining two-thirds felt they had to make adjustments to the market or other external changes.

Dairymen comments
Often, the most interesting portion of a survey revolves around the comments. A few expressed fears or uncertainties regarding immigration reform, as well as changes in labor law.

While many dairy farmers pondered how they could ever compete with nonagricultural jobs for employees, one respondent explained that he or she had made important changes in terms of improved interpersonal relations with workers, including the use of a veterinarian who spoke Spanish.

The respondent said, “Our dairy has a reputation as a good place to work. We seem to always have more people wanting to work here than we have work for.”

Numerous dairy farmers try creative ways to reward employees, everything from informal incentives for those who do well to incentive pay programs.

Several respondents expressed their gratitude for Hispanic labor, such as the comment from a Pennsylvania dairy farmer who explained, “We switched to Hispanic milkers one year ago, and life has been good ever since.”  PD

References omitted due to space but are available upon request.

Tables omitted but are available upon request to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

—From University of California, Agricultural Labor Management website

Gregory Encina Billikopf, Farm Advisor, Labor Management, University of California