University of California College of Agriculture Agricultural Experiment Station Berkeley, California S'CASONAL LABOR NESDS FOR CALIFORNIA CROPS MENDOCINO COUNTY Progress Report No. 23 by R. L. Adams Preliminary — Subject to Correction December, 1936 Contribution from the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics Mimeographed Report No. 53 UK!' cm (Farm Labor Survey — July- December , 1936) Progress Report No. 25 Seasonal Labor Needs for California Crops Mendocino County Scope of Presentation .-- The following considerations govern the present- ation of this progress report: 1. The data are confined to the area indicated above. 2. The data are confined solely to crops, livestock needs being ignored. 3. The findings apply only to occasional or seasonal labor requirements as distinguished from labor contributed b'^ farm operators and by workers employed on a year-round or regular basis of employment. 4. Attention is concentrated upon workers required for hand tasks — planting, thinning, weeding, hoeing, and harvesting -- without including teamsters, tractor drivers, irrigators, and shed packers of vegetables or fruits. 5. The presentation includes the so-called migratory, transient, or roving workers which comprise an important source of help needed in connection with cer- tain tasks and at "peak" times which seasonally arise in connection with many field, truck, and fruit crops commercially produced in California. 6. This report is confined to California's need for seasonal agricultural workers because of the more pressing problems liable to arise in connection there- with. A later study is planned which will deal with other kinds of labor involved in the production of California's many crops. Brief Description of the Area . — Mendocino County is situated on the . northern half of the California Coast, its southern boundary being about 70 miles northwest of San Francisco Bay, Its coast-line boundary extends for about 80 miles, and it has an average width of 40 miles east and west. It lies in the Coast Range mountains which occupy a belt 50 to 70 miles wide extending from the coast eastward to the Sacramento Valley. A straight line running east and west bounds it from Humbolt and Trinity counties on the north and its southern limits extend to the Sonoma County line. The farming area of the county is located in two distinctly different physiographic regions. The major portion of agricultural land lies in the Russian River drainage basin. It occupies an area about 36 miles long and from 7 to 12 miles wide, including several arable valleys, some of which are part of a large valley basin, and intervening ore rough, hilly areas. Eleva- tions of the various valleys vary from 475 feet above sea level at the lower tnd of Sanel Valley to 1,000 feet above S3a level in the upper part of Potter Vall&y. Hops, grapes, fruits, alfalfa, grain, and grain hay are the principal crops. Ths Russian River Valley is one of the main hop-growing centers of California. The second farming district is situated in the central part of the county about 120 miles northwest of San Francisco. It is about 30 miles square and is bounded on all sides by high hills and mountains. The only crops grown extensively are grain and grain hay, small acreages being devoted to truck crops. The county has a total land area of 2,264,960 acres, of which 93,424 acres are available for crops. Crops. Acreages, and Production .-- The basis used in calculating occasion- al or seasonal need for labor in addition to that furnished by farm operators and regularly employed workers appears as table 1. I lb TABL^U 1 2. Basis for Calculating Seasonal Labor Requireraents Mendocino County Crop Acreage Production Field crops: Alfalfa 6,323 16,937 tons Corn (for grain )• 252 5,680 bushels Grain - wheat 2,808 47,698 bushels barley 1,637 43,775 bushels oats C. , J.O'i t3U,t3D'i Dusnexs Hay (other than alfalfa) 16,366 22,081 tons Hops 1,371 6,778 bales in 1935 + Potatoes, Irish* 445 41,188 bushels Vegetable crops: f Snap beans 100 100 100 65 Output per man-dr,y 8 acres 3,3 acres 5 acres 7.5 acres 15.0 acres 30 acres Total of 15 man-days per acre for ser.son 250 pounds green weight 4,000 pounds green weight 12 bales (of 200 pounds dry weight) Table continued on next page. 4. Table 2 continued. Crop Operation Time of need Per cent of Work done by seasonal help Output per man- day Vegetable crops: Beans, string Picking for July 15-30 — 20 per canning cent of crop Aug. l-ol -- bO per > 100 250 pounds cent of crop Sept, 1-^0 -- 50 per cent of crop ^ Peas, green* Picking May 1-31 -- 25 per cent of soring crop June 1-30 -- 75 per cent of spring crop July 1-31 — 10 per cent of fall crop ^ 100 5 crates (of Aug. 1-31 — 40 per cent 55 pounds) of fall crop Sept. 1-30 -- 40 per cent of fall crop Oct. 1-31 -- 10 per cent of fall crop Tomatoes , Picking Sept. 1-30 -- 60 per ! 1 1 canning cent of crop > 100 2,500 pounds Oct. 1-20 40 per cent of crop Fruit and nut crops : Apoles Pruning Dec. 1-31 -- 1/3 of acreage Jan. 1-31 -- 1/3 of y 33 0.2 acre acreage Feb. 1-28 -- 1/3 of acreage _ Brush burn- Dec. 1-31 -- 1/3 of ing acreage Jan. 1-31 — 1/3 of > 33 1.0 acre acreage Feb. 1-28 — 1/3 of acreage Thinning -- May — 50 per cent of 20 per cent job > 33 0.2 acre of acreage June — 50 per cent of job Spraying Dec. -- 1/3 of acreage Jan. -- 1/3 of acreage Feb. -- 1/3 of acreage April 15-30 -- 2/3 of > acreage 50 1.3 acres May 1-31 — ?./3, mice; (= 100 trees) . l/3, +-;;ice ,^ Table continued on next page. Table 2 continued. Crop Fruit and nut crops : Apples (contd. ) Grapes, wine Operation Spraying ( contd. ) Picking from trees Drying Pruning Burning brush Picking Time of need Per cent of work done by seasonal help June 1-30 — 2/3, once; 1/3, t.vice July 1-15 -- 2/3 of acreage / July 20-30 — 5 per cent of crop Aug. 1-31 — 15 per cent of crop Sept. 1-30 -- 35 per cent of crop Oct. 1-31 — 35 per cent of crop Nov. 1-15 -- 10 per cent of crop - Aug. 1-31 — 25 per cent of job Sept. 1-30 -- 25 per cent of job Oct. 1-31 -- 25 per cent > of job Nov. 1-30 -- 25 per of job Dec. 15-31 - - 1/6 of acreage Jan. 1-31 — 1/3 of acreage Feb. 1-28 — 1/3 of acreage Mar. 1-15 — 1/6 of acreage Dec. 15-31 - - 1/6 of acreage Jan. 1-31 -- 1/3 of acreage Feb. 1-28 -- 1/3 of acreage Mar. 1-15 — 1/6 of acreage Sept. 15-30 — 5 per > cent of crop Oct. 1-31 -- 50 per cent of crop Nov. 1-15 — 45 per cent of crop 60 75 50 50 90 Output per man-day 50 boxes (- 2,100 pounds) t" 200 pounds dry weight 0.75 acre 5.0 acres 2,400 pounds Table continued on next page. } • ; 1 \ j ft Table 2 continued . Crop Operation Time of need Per cent of work done by seasonal help Output per man- day Fruit and nut crops (contd. ) Pears Prunes Pruning Picking Cutting for drying Other dry- yard work Pruning -- 25 per cent of acreage Brush burn- ing Spraying once Picking up Dipoing and drying Nov. 15-30 -- 15 per cent of acreage Dec. 1-31 -- 20 per cent of acreage Jan. 1-31 -- 40 per cent of acreage Feb. 1-28 -- 25 per cent of acreage Aug. 1-31 -- 80 per cent of crop Sept. 1-15 20 per cent of crop Aug. 15-31 -- 50 per cent of job Sept. 1-20 -- 50 per cent of job Aug. 15-31 33 per cent of job Sept. 1-30 -- 66 per cent of job Dec. — 20 per cent of acreage Jan. -- 40 per cent of acreage Feb. -- 40 per cent of acreage Dec. — 20 per cent of acreage Jan. -- 40 per cent of acreage Feb. — 40 per cent of acreage Dec. 1-31 -- 1/2 of acreage Jan, 1-31 -- 1/2 of acreage Sept. 5-30 --70 per cent of crop Oct, 1-15 -- 30 ner cent of crop Sept. 5-30 — 70 per cent of crop Oct. 1-15 -- 30 per cent of crop 65 90 100 100 50 50 50 100 95 0.2 acre 1,600 pounds 1,000 pounds 26. 5 hours per fresh ton ' 0.2 acre 2.5 acres 1.3 acres 1,500 riounds 8.3 hours per fresh ton I * 1934 carlots of peas by rail. No data on 1935 shi-^ments by rail. f A portion of the apple cron is picked uo from the ground, in which case the output per man-day is about 2 tons. 7. Findings of Seasonal Labor Needs .-- Details and summaries of seasonal labor requirements of Mendocino County agriculture are presented as table 3. The "size of task" are figures drawn from table 1, in terms of either acreage or output in tons, crates, boxes, or whatever unit is commonly used. The "outout per man-day" is an average figure for the entire acreage or output figured in crates, hampers, boxes, or other units as indicated in the table. If the work is of a nature that requires a crew different members of which perform different tasks, then the average , shown is per roan based on the entire crew. Length of day is 9 hours, November to February; 10 hours flarch to October, unless otherwise stated. Wide veriations in output occur between farm and farm, field and field, and season and season, because of differences in soil types, climatic conditions, weeds, yields, emd other factors influencing the amount of work that a laborer can perform in a given day. Moreover, the basis of output is a mature, experienced male worker without reference to use of women, children, and more or less inexperienced help that is sometimes used in connection v/ith certain of the tasks requiring use of seasonal workers. The column headed "available days" reflects (a) limitations set from the period within which the work must be performed because of the nature of the task, such as transplanting, thinning, weeding, eind cutting, and (b) available days as determined by weather conditions, inclement weather reducing the number of days when a required task can be performed. The "required number of individuals" is given in terms of workers as noted above in connection with "output per man-day." It is probable that the estimated number of workers reouired, as recorded in table 3, will often be too low, for the reason that "peaks" frequently occur, during • ^ which an unusually large proportion of the job is done in a very short period. This would naturally require a much greater number of workers than v/hen the work is spread over a longer period, even though the total amount of labor (in man-days) remains the same. TABLE 3 Seasonal Labor Needs -- Mendocino County — by Months and Tasks Required Available Required number Month Crop and task Size of task Output per man-day man- days days of workers* .Tp» mi avv Annies: Pruninc 145 acres T 0.2 acre 725 15 49 Bur'ni nff brushi 145 acres "t" 1.0 acre 145 15 10 Snravinff 217 acres ir 1.3 acres 167 15 12 Crranes iVi/ine); Prunins 1,115 acres j" 0.7 5 acre 1 ,487 15 100 899 acres ^ 0.2 acre 4 ,495 15 300 67 acres 0,2 acre 335 15 23 PlIT'n'l VICT V'lT'lloVl U f CkL* ICO 1 ? ^ f* a 2 ^"^^ Pi f» y*p c -P" Totals 7 ,639 15 510 raan-nionths Add! es ; Prunine 145 acres 1* 0.2 acre 725 19 39 1 9 a \J PI 7 « f*rp <=• "t" 1 67 Q Grapes (wine ) : Pruning 1,115 acre si* 0.75 acres 1 ,487 19 79 Pearst Pruning 562 acres'^ 0.2 acre 2,810 19 148 Pynnp*^ ' PY*nni fi7 Acy*put.t.ing I or arymg