The number of workers paid by farmers and agricultural services totaled 61,000 for the week of October 8 through 14. Farmers hired 50,000 workers compared with 46,000 in July 2000 and 58,000 in October 1999. Agricultural services provided 11,000 paid workers compared with 2,000 last quarter and 5,000 a year ago. Grove caretakers cut cover crops, hedged, topped trees, and removed grove debris. Citrus growers picked 535,000 boxes during the survey week, down 31 percent from the 776,915 boxes harvested during the October 1999 survey week. The planting of fall crop vegetables continued in most southern Peninsula localities as soils dried out from the rains caused by a sub tropical depression that passed over the areas the week before. Vegetables growers harvested bell peppers, cucumbers, pickles, watermelons, squash
and okra with producers shipping about 7,810,000 pounds, 28 percent below the preliminary 10,880,000 pounds shipped the previous year. Other fieldwork during the survey week included cotton, sugarcane, soybean and hay harvesting. Livestock producers planted cool season forages in central areas.

    The October 2000 all hired worker wage rate averaged $8.73 per hour, 24 cents above the $8.49 per hour paid in July, and 64 cents above the $8.09 paid last year. Farmers paid an average of $8.72 per hour, a quarter above the $8.47 paid last quarter, and 67 cents more than the $8.05 paid last year. Agricultural services paid workers an average of $8.80 per hour compared with $9.00 last quarter and $8.65 last year.

    There were 1.24 million hired workers on the Nation's farms and ranches the week of October 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 October 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. Number of hours worked averaged 41.2 hours for hired workers during the survey week compared with 42.5 hours a year ago. The largest increases in number of hired farm workers over last year occurred in the Northeast II (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania), Corn Belt II (Iowa and Missouri), Southern Plains (Oklahoma and Texas), and Northeast I (New England and New York) regions. Harvesting of field crops, fruits, and vegetables in Northeast II was active during the survey week. In Corn Belt II, corn and soybean harvest continued at a rapid pace before weekend rain arrived in the region. After rain at the beginning of the survey week, small grain planting in the Southern Plains progressed quickly. In Northeast I, harvesting, packing, and grading of fruits and vegetables, normally completed by this time of year, were still active. The largest declines in number of hired farm workers from a year ago were in the Northern Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas), Corn Belt I (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio), and Florida regions. Weeks of dry weather in the Northern Plains have row crop harvest ahead of schedule and winter wheat planting below normal due to dry soil conditions. In Corn Belt I, cooler weather delayed ripening of late-maturing crops and limited harvest progress in parts of the region. The 2000 annual averages for the Nation's self- employed, unpaid, and hired workers were 1.57 million, 487,500 and 890,300, respectively. The self-employed worker annual average is up 1 percent from a year ago. Unpaid and hired worker annual averages were down from last year at 1 and 4 percent, respectively. The 2000 U.S. hired worker annual average wage rate was $8.10, up 4 percent from the 1999 annual wage rate of $7.77. The Field and Livestock worker combined annual average wage rate was $7.54, up 4 percent from last year's annual average wage rate of $7.22.

REVISIONS: The July 2000 hired workers estimates were revised for the U.S. and California. These revisions were based on additional information received in California as part of the ongoing Federal-State cooperative program.

Table 1 -- Florida agricultural workers, number of workers, wage rates, and hours worked, October 8 - 14, 2000, with comparisons
Employer, Year, and survey week	Hired by farm operators
	Number of workers			Hours Worked Per Week	Wages Paid by Type of Work
	All	Expected to work			All	Field	Livestock
		150 days or more	149 days or less
HIRED BY FARMERS		Thousands		Hours	Dollars Per Hour 1/
2000
October 8 - 14	50 .0	43 .0	7 .0	38 .9	8 .72	8.00	7.30
July 9 - 15	46 .0	42 .0	4 .0	42 .0	8 .47	7.75	7.45
April 9 - 15	70 .0	62 .0	8 .0	40 .4	8 .53	7.70	7.80
January 9 - 15	60 .0	48 .0	12 .0	41 .9	8 .28	7.40	7.50
1999
October 10 - 16	58 .0	47 .0	11 .0	38 .8	8 .05	7.05	7.00
July 11 - 17	45 .0	40 .0	5 .0	39 .7	8 .32	7.25	7.30
April 11 - 17	54 .0	46 .0	8 .0	41 .1	8 .18	7.40	6.90
January 10 - 16	55 .0	48 .0	7 .0	39 .1	8 .31	7.35	7.00
1998
October 11 - 17	47 .0	42 .0	5 .0	43 .0	7 .82	7.10	7.30
HIRED BY AGRICULTURAL SERVICES
2000
October 8 - 14	11 .0			32 .0	8 .80
July 9 - 15	2 .0			43 .0	9 .00
April 9 - 15	12 .0			36 .5	8 .50
January 9 - 15	16 .0			36 .5	8 .60
1999
October 10 - 16	5 .0			32 .0	8 .65
July 11 - 17	3 .0			45 .0	8 .85
April 11 - 17	9 .0			38 .0	8 .30
January 10 - 16	12 .0			35 .0	8 .50
1998
October 11 - 17	6 .0			30 .0	8 .05
HIRED BY BOTH FARMERS & AGRICULTURAL SERVICES
2000
October 8 - 14	61 .0				8 .73
July 9 -15	48 .0				8 .49
April 9 - 15	82 .0				8 .53
January 9 - 15	76 .0				8 .34
1999
October 10 - 16	63 .0				8 .09
July 11 - 17	48 .0				8 .36
April 11 - 17	63 .0				8 .20
January 10 - 16	67 .0				8 .34
1998
October 11 - 17	53 .0				7 .84
1/ Benefits, such as housing and meals, are provided some workers but the values are not included in the wage rates.

Table 2 -- Number of workers hired by farmers, wage rates, and hours worked, selected States, October 8 - 14, 2000, with comparisons 1/
Item	Florida	California	Texas & Oklahoma	Arizona & New Mexico	Hawaii	United States 2/
	Thousands
All hired workers
October 8 - 14, 2000	50	242	61	21	8	952
July 9 - 15, 2000	46	*266	77	20	8	*1,084
October 10 - 16, 1999	58	261	52	22	8	989
Expected to work
150 days or less
October 8 - 14, 2000	43	184	49	18	7	662
July 9 - 15, 2000	42	*204	51	16	7	*724
October 10 - 16, 1999	47	171	39	19	7	665
149 days or less
October 8 - 14, 2000	7	58	12	3	1	290
July 9 - 15, 2000	4	*62	26	4	1	*360
October 10 - 16, 1999	11	90	13	3	1	324
	Dollars per hour 3/
All hired worker wage rate
October 8 - 14, 2000	8.72	8.44	7.59	7.52	10.73	8.29
July 9 - 15, 2000	8.47	*8.14	7.38	7.30	10.76	*7.93
October 10 - 16, 1999	8.05	7.86	7.24	7.12	10.88	7.83
Wages by type of worker
Field & Livestock
October 8 - 14, 2000	7.86	7.79	6.95	6.96	9.07	7.76
July 9 - 15, 2000	7.70	*7.56	6.85	6.63	9.09	*7.43
October 10 - 16, 1999	7.04	7.30	6.74	6.69	9.24	7.33
Field
October 8 - 14, 2000	8.00	7.70	6.71	6.71	9.05	7.74
July 9 - 15, 2000	7.75	*7.46	6.56	6.43	9.17	*7.37
October 10 - 16, 1999	7.05	7.25	6.48	6.51	9.21	7.31
Livestock
October 8 - 14, 2000	7.30	8.65	7.30	7.73	4/	7.84
July 9 - 15, 2000	7.45	*8.32	7.55	7.17	4/	*7.68
October 10 - 16, 1999	7.00	8.03	7.29	7.40	4/	7.43
	Average hours per week
Hours worked by all hired workers
October 8 - 14, 2000	38.9	43.2	37.3	43.6	35.8	41.2
July 9 - 15, 2000	42.0	*44.1	39.9	46.6	36.7	*40.0
October 10 - 16, 1999	38.8	46.7	39.2	44.9	36.9	42.5
1/ Excludes Agricultural Service workers. 2/ United States excludes Alaska. 3/ Value of any perquisites provided are not included in wage rates. 4/ Insufficient data for this category; included in all hired wages. *Revised.

    Crew leaders and custom crews provided 285,000 workers for the Nation's farms and ranches during the week of October 8-14, 2000. Service workers in California numbered 86,000 this October compared with 106,000 last year. Florida's number of service workers was 11,000, compared with 5,000 last year.

    The average wage received by agricultural service workers in California and Florida were $8.83 and $8.80 per hour, respectively. Comparable wages in October 1999 were $7.96 in California and $8.65 in Florida.

Table 3--Annual average wage rates, number of workers, and hours worked, 2000 and 1999 1/ 2/
State and Region	Wages			Number			Hours Worked by Hired Workers
	by Type of Worker			Self Employed	Unpaid	Hired
	All Hired	Field	Field & Livestock
2000
Florida	8 .49	7 .68	7 .66	29 .5	5 .5	56 .5	40 .8
Texas & Oklahoma	7 .48	6 .75	6 .98	255 .0	58 .8	61 .3	38 .2
Arizona & New Mexico	7 .34	6 .59	6 .71	14 .8	23 .8	19 .0	45 .8
California	8 .21	7 .48	7 .56	39 .0	10 .5	237 .8	43 .7
Hawaii	10 .62	9 .09	9 .05	3 .1	1 .0	7 .8	36 .5
United States 3/	8 .10	7 .50	7 .54	1,574 .8	487 .5	890 .3	40 .1
1999
Florida	8 .21	7 .26	7 .25	29 .5	5 .8	53 .0	39 .7
Texas & Oklahoma	6 .97	6 .38	6 .49	259 .5	59 .0	52 .8	38 .6
Arizona & New Mexico	7 .28	6 .61	6 .74	12 .8	24 .5	19 .3	44 .9
California	7 .88	7 .18	7 .27	37 .0	12 .5	277 .3	44 .1
Hawaii	10 .87	9 .38	9 .38	3 .2	1 .1	7 .5	37 .1
United States 3/	7 .77	7 .19	7 .22	1,558 .4	490 .0	929 .0	40 .3
1/ Excludes Agricultural Service Workers. 2/ Annual rates are averages of the published wage rates for each survey week weighted by the number of hours worked during the week. The annual average for all States, Regions, and the U.S. is based on data collected for January, April, July, and October. 3/ Excludes AK.