Agriculture salary can be a touchy subject. The salary you set for a particular job—whether it be an agricultural engineer salary or farm workers pay—must be high enough to attract a qualified applicant but not so high that it will send your bottom line plummeting.
It may be best to look at agriculture salary as an investment over time. You invest training and salary into the employee with the hopes of gaining a loyal, productive employee in the near future.
When determining farm workers' pay, know that salaries in all fields increase and decrease depending on a number of factors. Consider the following:
1. Agriculture salary tools indicate that geography—where you conduct business and hire workers—makes a difference in how much should be offered in comparison with the cost of living.
2. Agriculture salaries depend largely on the candidate's experience.
3. Agriculture pay will be higher if the job market for the particular position is in high demand.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Make use of agriculture salary tools available online
From agricultural engineer salary to farm workers' pay, basic rates of pay can be found on the Internet. The latest pay scales and wage information has been the focus of much research available online. Users can search a particular occupation and also compare those rates through a regional section of the country.
I recommend: Agricultural jobs recruiter
AGRIcareers, Inc. makes a detailed agricultural salary survey. Find California farmworker salary levels in surveys from the
Farm Employers Labor Service and winery pay rates in the annual survey from
Wine Business Monthly. View national averages and compare results from your region at
CareerBuilder. Or obtain a free salary report from
Salary Search.
Do your homework on industry-wide farming salary ranges
Keep informed of what's expected for a job applicant through industry magazines and other resources so that you can evaluate your job description and wage information. As job duties and technology evolves so do expectations and wages.
I recommend: Check out the
National Commodity and Agricultural Organization database at AgMRC. From there, you can pick the organization that relates to your business. It may also be helpful for training opportunities. Investigate what kind of jobs are being advertised at
Careerjet.com for job seekers and what kind of salary is listed in the ads.
Learn how to effectively negotiate agriculture salary
Negotiating farm salary can be much like a game. You must make a hire choice that fits in with your needs and also doesn't break your budget. But be careful not to push the candidate to his or her limit before agreeing on a salary.
I recommend: Read expert tips at
PayScale.com on how to manage farming pay negotiations without ruining your chances to bank an extraordinary employee. Read this article from
Salary.com detailing specific goals to keep in mind when negotiating salary.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- However you structure farm worker salary, don't forget to think ahead. If the employee proves to be an asset, you'll want to compensate them with regular pay increases. If you hire them at the top of the pay scale, you'll be jumping off the charts before too long.
The official source of Agriculture Salary Tools is
the Agriculture Salary Tools page at Business.com
Related Resources from Business.com
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