Ag Labor Expenses Forecast to Increase in 2023

Dan Economy, Labor and Immigration, This Land of Ours, USDA-ERS

The cost of ag labor is expected to rise. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.

ag labor

Total cash labor expenses for the U.S. agriculture sector are forecast to be $43.35 billion for 2023, based on new data from USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). This would be an increase of $0.78 billion, or 1.8 percent, over the 2022 level of $42.57 billion in inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars. The projected 2023 level would remain below the high set in 2017.

Labor expenses are an important component of agricultural production costs. For every $100 spent on production expenses, almost $10 goes toward labor. Total labor expenses include contract and hired labor payments but exclude non-cash employee compensation.

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Generally, the animal production sector uses less hired and contract labor than the crop sector. In 2021, the animal production sector accounted for about one-third of total hired and contract labor expenses, with the remaining roughly two-thirds incurred by the crop production sector. This is because some large specialty crops are more labor-intensive than most industries in the animal sector.

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Ag Labor Expenses Forecast to Increase in 2023

Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.

Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.