Career profile for Farm Labor Contractor

What does a Farm Labor Contractor do?

Farm Labor Contractors recruit and hire seasonal or temporary agricultural laborers.

In addition, Farm Labor Contractors may transport, house, and provide meals for workers.

What kind of tasks does a Farm Labor Contractor perform regularly?

Farm Labor Contractors are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Provide food, drinking water, and field sanitation facilities to contracted workers.
Pay wages of contracted farm laborers.
Recruit and hire agricultural workers.
Employ foremen to deal directly with workers when recruiting, hiring, instructing, assigning tasks, and enforcing work rules.
Supervise the work of contracted employees.
Furnish tools for employee use.

The above responsibilities are specific to Farm Labor Contractors. More generally, Farm Labor Contractors are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards		Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment		Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials		Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
Training and Teaching Others		Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.
Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People		Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.

Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards

Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment

Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.

Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials

Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.

Training and Teaching Others

Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others.

Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People

Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.

What is a Farm Labor Contractor salary?

The median salary for a Farm Labor Contractor is $47,780, and the average salary is $50,300. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Farm Labor Contractor salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Farm Labor Contractors earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Farm Labor Contractors earn less than $36,440 per year, 25% earn less than $43,260, 75% earn less than $52,280, and 90% earn less than $71,620.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Farm Labor Contractors is expected to change by 50.0%, and there should be roughly 0 open positions for Farm Labor Contractors every year.

Median annual salary: $47,780
Typical salary range: $36,440 - $71,620
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 50.0%

What personality traits are common among Farm Labor Contractors?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Farm Labor Contractor are usually higher in their Enterprising interests.

Farm Labor Contractors typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Farm Labor Contractor tend to value Relationships, Independence, and Recognition.

Most importantly, Farm Labor Contractors strongly value Relationships. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Second, Farm Labor Contractors moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Lastly, Farm Labor Contractors moderately value Recognition. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer advancement, potential for leadership, and are often considered prestigious.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Farm Labor Contractors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, integrity, and achievement/effort.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Farm Labor Contractors, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Achievement/Effort		Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.
Cooperation		Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.
Persistence		Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Achievement/Effort

Job requires establishing and maintaining personally challenging achievement goals and exerting effort toward mastering tasks.

Cooperation

Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude.

Persistence

Job requires persistence in the face of obstacles.

What education and training do Farm Labor Contractors need?

Working as a Farm Labor Contractor usually requires a high school diploma.

Farm Labor Contractors need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Farm Labor Contractors

1.0% did not complete high school or secondary school
8.6% completed high school or secondary school
17.6% completed some college coursework
8.1% earned a Associate's degree
45.7% earned a Bachelor's degree
17.0% earned a Master's degree
2.0% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Farm Labor Contractors

Farm Labor Contractors may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as foreign language, food production, or mathematics knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Farm Labor Contractors might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Foreign Language		Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Food Production		Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Mathematics		Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Personnel and Human Resources		Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Production and Processing		Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Foreign Language

Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

Food Production

Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Mathematics

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Personnel and Human Resources

Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Production and Processing

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Important Abilities needed by Farm Labor Contractors

Farm Labor Contractors must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Farm Labor Contractors need abilities such as oral comprehension, oral expression, and speech clarity in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Farm Labor Contractors, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Speech Clarity		The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition		The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Speech Clarity

The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

Speech Recognition

The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Critical Skills needed by Farm Labor Contractors

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Farm Labor Contractors frequently use skills like speaking, active listening, and management of personnel resources to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Farm Labor Contractors, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Management of Personnel Resources		Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Time Management		Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Management of Personnel Resources

Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.

Time Management

Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Farm Labor Contractor

Farm Labor Contractor

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