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January 19, 2001
There were 1.24 million hired workers on the nation's farms and ranches the week of Oct. 8-14, 2000, down 3 percent from a year ago. There were 952,000 workers hired directly by farm operators. Agricultural service employees on farms and ranches made up the remaining 285,000 workers. Migrant workers accounted for 11.9 percent of the October hired workforce compared to 12.3 percent last year.
Farm operators paid their hired workers an average wage of
$8.29 per hour during the Oct. 2000 survey week, up 46 cents from a year earlier.
Field workers received an average of $7.74 per hour, up 43 cents from last
October. Livestock workers earned $7.84 per hour compared with $7.43 a year
earlier. The field and livestock worker combined wage rate was up 43 cents
from last year.
Source: NASS, Farm Labor, Nov. 2000
USDA announces funds
for lamb promotion
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman announced that USDA will
begin accepting proposals to fund up to $1 million in competitive marketing
and promotion projects under the Lamb Meat Adjustment Assistance Measures
Program.
On Nov. 15, Glickman announced the initial awards of 15 cooperative
agreements totaling nearly $3.85 million under this program. The additional
funds were made available to provide a greater opportunity for the lamb industry
to make domestic lamb meat more competitive with imported meat. New or existing
programs that focus on marketing, promotion, merchandising, market feasibility
analysis, market identification, or value enhancement will be considered for
funding.
Source: Speedlines, AFBF, Executive Newswatch, Dec.1, 2000
Queen bee, court get first-class treatment
Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) C022.3.7 states that live
queen honeybees are mailable via air transportation, but other bees (i.e.,
worker bees) may be sent only via surface transportation.
However, when queen honeybees are shipped, it is critical that each queen be accompanied by a few attendant honeybees. The attendant honeybees feed and groom the queen during shipment, reducing the stress of transport and ensuring the viability of the queen honeybee when it is introduced into a new honeybee colony after delivery.
For these reasons, effective Oct. 5, 2000, DMM C022.3.7 is clarified to allow a limited number of attendant honeybees to accompany each queen honeybee when air transportation is used. This revision will appear in the printed version of DMM 56 and in the online version available via Postal Explorer (http;//pe.usps.gov).
"Amend 3.7 to read as follows:
3.7 Bees
Bees are acceptable in the continental surface mail when shipped under federal
and state regulations to ensure they are free of disease. Packages of honeybees
must bear special handling postage, except when sent as First-Class Mail.
Only queen honeybees may be shipped via air transportation. Each queen honeybee
shipped via air transportation may be accompanied by up to eight attendant
honeybees."
Source: Postal Bulletin 22034, Oct. 5, 2000
NFO, Dairy farmers sign marketing
pact
A marketing agency agreement to jointly market National
Farmers Organization (NFO) members' milk was signed by NFO and Dairy Farmers
of America, Inc. The agreement establishes a common marketing agency between
the organizations that includes marketing and management functions of NFO's
dairy department.
Source: Doane's Agricultural Report, Nov. 10, 2000
Timber harvest rate lower than growth
We are growing more timber than we are harvesting. In 1920, timber
harvest rates nationally were double the rate of forest growth. By 1986, net
annual growth was 3.5 times what it was 1920. In 1995, some 1.6 billion seedlings
were planted in the United States—more than five new trees a year for
every American.
So who's doing the planting? The forest industry accounts
for 43 percent; private landowners, 42 percent; and the government, 15 percent.
Source: AgExporter, Jan. 2001
