Cognitive Testing of the 

April 2018 Agricultural 

Labor Survey

Heather Ridolfo and Kathy Ott

United States

Department of

Agricultural

National

Agricultural

Statistics

Service

Research and

Development Division

Washington, DC 20250

RDD Research Report

Number RDD-20-02

September 2020

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author and should not be construed to represent any

official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.
ii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Data from the Agricultural Labor Survey are used to produce quarterly estimates of the number 

of agricultural workers, average hours worked per worker, and average hourly wage rates for all 

agricultural workers, who are directly hired and paid by U.S. farmers and ranchers. In 2017, the 

National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) was requested to enhance its Agricultural Labor 

Survey to provide a more reflective gross and base wage rate.

In order to implement these changes, several modifications were made to the Agricultural Labor 

Survey questionnaire. These changes were then evaluated using iterative rounds of cognitive 

interviewing. The measurement of base wages was attempted several different ways, including 

asking respondent to report base wage rates paid by worker classification and wage rate, average 

base wage rates and piece rates paid by worker classification, and total base wages paid by 

worker groups. 

Results from cognitive testing found that it is very difficult for respondents, who pay their 

workers piece rate, to convert that pay to hourly wage rates, and it is very difficult for them to 

report piece rate pay by worker classification. This is due to the variety of pay schemes used by 

farmers (e.g., some workers receive piece rates and hourly rates in the same day), and the variety 

of piece rates paid (e.g., each apple variety has a different piece rate associated with it). It is also 

difficult for farmers to group workers who fall under the same classification and report the wage 

rate paid or the average wage rate paid, due to the varying rates paid to different workers. 

Respondents were better able to report total gross wages paid and total base wages paid to groups 

of workers regardless of their pay structure. 

As found in previous cognitive testing studies, respondents in this study had difficulty selecting 

the appropriate worker codes for their workers. They had difficulty locating the worker codes, 

and, once found, had difficulty selecting a single code when multiple codes could apply. 

Additionally, respondents often wanted to report the type of work their workers were currently 

doing as opposed to what the type of work they were hired to do. Respondents in this testing also 

had difficulty comprehending terms used on this survey, including base wages, incentives, 

agricultural labor, contract and custom workers, and value-added workers. Finally, formatting 

issues— such as the placement of the worker codes, include/exclude statements, dot leaders, item 

codes, and page numbers—caused respondents additional burden.
iii

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Ask respondents to report total base wages paid, total gross wages paid, and total 

incentive/overtime wages paid by worker group. 

Resolution: Accepted.

2. Provide examples in the worker table to show how workers’ hours and wages should be 

reported. 

Resolution: Accepted.

3. Provide definitions for the following terms: base wages, incentives, agricultural workers, 

contract and custom workers, and value-added workers. 

Resolution: Definitions for base wages and incentive pay were added to the April 

2018 survey. Definitions for agricultural workers, contract and custom workers and 

value-added workers were denied. 

4. Make formatting of the survey user-friendly. This includes, single banking include and 

exclude statements, placing dot leaders following the last exclude statement, making page 

numbers large and centered on the top of the page, removing item codes from response 

boxes, spanning sections 1 and 2 over two pages, and placing the worker codes between 

Sections 1 and 2. 

Resolution: Include and exclude statements were single banked, Sections 1 and 2 

were spanned across two pages, and the worker codes were placed between Sections 

1 and 2. The rest of the recommendations were denied. 
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1

2. METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................................2

3. RESULTS............................................................................................................................4

3.1 Round 1 ..........................................................................................................................4

3.1.1 Question 1 – October Labor Screener ........................................................................5

3.1.2 Question 2 – Worker Table .......................................................................................7

3.1.3 Round 1 Recommendations..................................................................................... 12

3.2 Round 2 ........................................................................................................................ 13

3.2.1 Questions 1 and 2 – Screener and Number of Workers............................................. 15

3.2.2 Question 3 – 150-Day Question............................................................................... 15

3.2.3 Question 4 – Worker Table ..................................................................................... 15

3.2.4 Round 2 Recommendations..................................................................................... 16

3.3 Round 3 ........................................................................................................................ 16

3.3.1 Question 2 – Number of Workers............................................................................ 17

3.3.2 Question 3 - 150-Day Question ............................................................................... 17

3.3.3 Question 4 – Worker Table ..................................................................................... 18

3.3.4 Round 3 Recommendations..................................................................................... 20

3.4 Round 4 ........................................................................................................................ 21

3.4.1 Question 1 - Screener.............................................................................................. 23

3.4.2 Question 2 – Number of Workers............................................................................ 24

3.4.3 Question 3 – 150-Day Question............................................................................... 24

3.4.4 Question 4 – Piece Rate Screener ............................................................................ 24

3.4.5 Question 5 – Piece Rate Worker Type ..................................................................... 24

3.4.6 Question 6 – Worker Table ..................................................................................... 27

3.4.7 Other Comments..................................................................................................... 30

3.4.8 Round 4 Recommendations..................................................................................... 30

3.5 Round 5 ........................................................................................................................ 31

3.5.1 Question 1 - Screener.............................................................................................. 31

3.5.2 Question 2 – Number of Workers............................................................................ 31

3.5.3 Question 3 – Question 3 150-Day Question ............................................................. 32

3.5.4 Question 4 – Question 4 – Worker Table ................................................................. 32

3.5.5 Section 3, Question 1 Peak Number of Workers ...................................................... 33
v

3.5.6 Section 3, Question 2 H-2A .................................................................................... 34

4. CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................... 34

5. REFERENCES................................................................................................................... 35

APPENDIX A: Questionnaire Used during Round 1 ............................................................... 36

APPENDIX B: Questionnaire Used during Round 2................................................................ 49

APPENDIX C: Questionnaire Used during Round 3................................................................ 60

APPENDIX D: Questionnaire Used during Round 4 ............................................................... 72

APPENDIX E: Questionnaire Used during Round 5................................................................ 85
1

Cognitive Testing of the April 2018 Agricultural Labor Survey

Heather Ridolfo and Kathy Ott1

Abstract

In 2017, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) was requested to enhance its 

Agricultural Labor Survey to provide a more reflective gross and base wage rate. To accommodate 

this request, several changes were made to the survey. These changes were evaluated in iterative 

rounds of cognitive testing. Results of this testing showed that it was difficult for most respondents 

to report wage rates and piece rates paid to workers. Respondents, who had the ability to report 

base wage rates and/or piece rates paid, were not always willing to report this information. 

However, respondents could, and were willing to, report total base wages and gross wages paid to 

their workers. 

Key Words: Labor, piece rate pay, base wages, incentive wages, overtime wages

1. INTRODUCTION

Data from the Agricultural Labor Survey are used to produce employment and wage estimates 

for all workers directly hired by U.S. farms and ranches (excluding Alaska) for four reference 

weeks throughout the year. Estimates are produced for the number of hired workers, average 

hours worked per worker, and average hourly wage rates for all hired workers. In past 

Agricultural Labor Surveys, respondents were instructed to separate their workers by the work 

they were hired to do and then report the number of paid workers, total hours worked, and total 

gross wages paid for those workers. In 2017, the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) 

was requested to enhance its Agricultural Labor Survey to provide a more reflective gross and 

base wage rate.

In order to implement the change in measurement of wages, several modifications were made to 

the Agricultural Labor Survey questionnaire. These modifications included changes to the 

instructions regarding types of workers to be reported, how to group workers when reporting 

hours worked and wages paid, and new and revised definitions. In addition, the layout of the 

questionnaire and formatting of text had to be changed to accommodate the new questions and 

changes to instructions and definitions. The new wage questions and modifications to the 

questionnaire were evaluated using iterative rounds of cognitive interviewing. 

This report summarizes the methodology and questionnaire versions used in each round of 

cognitive testing and presents the results of this research. Short-term and long-term

recommendations are then presented to improve the quality of data collected via this survey. 

 

1 Heather Ridolfo is an Agricultural Statistician with the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Research and 

Development Division, 1400 Independence Ave SW, Room 6031, Washington, DC 20250. Kathy Ott is a 

Mathematical Statistician with the National Agricultural Statistics Service, Methodology Division, 1400 

Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20250. The authors also thank NASS employees Emilola Abayomi, David 

Biagas, Joseph Rodhouse, Ken Pick, Rachel Sloan, and Troy Joshua for their assistance with this project. 
2

2. METHODOLOGY

The proposed changes to the Agricultural Labor Survey were evaluated using cognitive 

interviewing. Cognitive interviewing is a qualitative method for evaluating respondents’ question

response process when answering survey questions and identifying potential sources of response 

error (Willis, 2005). During the cognitive interviews, respondents completed a portion of the 

Agricultural Labor Survey paper questionnaire. Interviewers then probed respondents to evaluate 

their question response process. More specifically, interviewers used retrospective probing to 

assess respondents’ comprehension of the survey questions and the steps they took to formulate a 

response. Each interview lasted about one hour.

Cognitive interviewing was conducted iteratively. After each round of testing, changes were 

made to the questionnaire, and these changes were then tested in the following round. In total,

five versions of the questionnaire were tested. Copies of the questionnaires used during testing 

can be found in the Appendices. 

In total, 26 cognitive interviews were conducted. Testing began in December 2017 and continued 

through February 2018. Twenty-two of the interviews were conducted in person. These 

interviews were conducted by six interviewers in four states: Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, 

and California. The remaining four interviews were conducted via web conferencing. 

Respondents from these interviews were in New Jersey and Washington. Respondents were 

recruited via different methods, including using list frame data from NASS’s Enhanced List 

Maintenance Operations (ELMO) database and via personal contacts. All respondents were 

required to have some agricultural labor. Operations that pay their workers using a piece rate 

system were also targeted. All respondents had agricultural labor that they directly hired except 

one respondent, who screened into the study but later revealed that he did not have labor on his 

payroll that he hired and paid directly. Characteristics of the farms that participated in this testing 

can be found in Table 1.

Data from the cognitive interviews were analyzed using the constant comparative method of 

analysis (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Using this methodology, analysts first reviewed the data 

with two research questions in mind: 1) how do respondents interpret the survey questions? and 

2) how do respondents formulate their responses? During the initial pass through the data, codes 

were assigned to each respondent as patterns in the data emerged. These codes were then 

reviewed and compared against the raw data in order to verify and refine the coding and to 

identify emerging themes. In the final analysis step, a working theory was developed regarding 

respondents’ comprehension of the survey questions and potential response error that may occur 

using the tested survey questions. 
3

Table 1. Characteristics of Farms by Round

Round State Type of Operation

Number of

Employees Type of Pay

1 VA

Fruit, Nuts, and Berries, 

Vegetables, Melons, and 

Potatoes

0 Barter

1 VA Cattle & Calves, Equine 15 Daily, weekly, biweekly and 

monthly

1 VA Cattle & Calves, Field 

Crops

7 Hourly and salaried

1 VA Cattle & Calves, Equine,

Field Crops 3 Hourly

1 VA Fruit, Nuts, and Berries 15 Hourly and salaried

1 VA Cattle & Calves 8 Hourly and salaried

1 VA

Cattle & Calves,

Vegetables, Melons, and 

Potatoes

5 Hourly and salaried

1 VA Equine 8 Hourly and salaried, overtime

1 MD Fruit, Nuts, and Berries 10 Hourly

1 PA Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 38 Hourly, salaried, overtime

1 PA Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 31 Hourly, piece rate, overtime

1 PA Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 10 Hourly, overtime

1 PA Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 15 Hourly

1 PA Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 1 Hourly and salaried

1 MD Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 30 Hourly and salaried, overtime

1 CA Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 44 Hourly and salaried, overtime

1 CA

Vegetables, Melons, and 

Potatoes, Fruits, Nuts, and 

Berries

8 Hourly and salaried, overtime

1 CA

Field crops, Vegetables, 

Melons, and Potatoes, 

Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod

16 Hourly and salaried, overtime

1 CA

Vegetables, Melons, and 

Potatoes, Fruit, Nuts, and 

Berries

27 Hourly

2 NJ Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 11 Hourly

3 CA Vegetables, Melons, and 

Potatoes 60 Hourly 

3 CA Fruit, Nuts, and Berries 5 Hourly and salaried

4 NJ Fruit, Nuts, and Berries Unknown Hourly and piece rate

4 NJ Vegetables, Melons, and 

Potatoes 135 Piece rate

4 NJ Greenhouse, Nursery, Sod 20 Hourly, salaried, and piece 

rate
4

5 WA Fruit, Nuts, and Berries 4,000 Hourly and piece rate

3. RESULTS

3.1 Round 1

Nineteen interviews were conducted in Round 1. To develop valid measures of base and gross 

wages, several modifications were made to the questionnaire. First, a new column was added to 

the response table for Question 2 in Sections 1 and 2, where respondents were instructed to 

report base wages paid per hour excluding incentive pay. The total gross wages column was also 

changed to instruct respondents to include incentive pay and overtime pay. In order to have 

enough space for the new base wage column, the column “work hired to do” was removed from 

the table. 

The instructions in Question 2 were also changed to reflect the new measures. The new 

instructions directed respondents as follows: Record each worker only once; separate the workers 

by the main type of work they were hired to do based on the groups outlined on page 4 and by 

the base wage paid per hour; and report only one week of wages for the reference week. The 

most significant of these changes was that respondents were instructed to separate their workers 

by the main type of worker they were hired to do (i.e. worker code) and base wages paid. In the 

past, respondents were instructed to report each worker code on one row in the table and report 

the total hours worked and total gross wages paid for all workers who fell under that worker code

(Figure 1). An instruction was also added to Question 1 in Sections 1 and 2, which instructed

respondents to include workers who were on paid leave. 

In addition to content changes, Questions 1 and 2 were reformatted to improve readability. In 

previous Agricultural Labor Surveys, the include and exclude statements for Question 1 were 

presented in a single parenthetical paragraph below the survey question and some words were 

bolded for emphasis (e.g., “only report”, “include”). In this round of testing, the include and 

exclude statements were bulleted and double banked and all bolding was removed. 

In previous versions of the Agricultural Labor Survey, the instructions for Question 2 were listed 

below the survey question and many words were bolded. In this round of testing, the instructions 

were bulleted and all bolding was removed. Questions 1 and 2 used during the first round of 

testing are shown in Figure 2. 
5

Figure 1. Questions 1 and 2 from April 2017 Agricultural Labor Survey

Figure 2. Round 1, Questions 1 and 2

3.1.1 Question 1 – October Labor Screener

All but one respondent answered yes to this question. Two of the respondents, who answered yes 

to this question, did not adhere to the reference period in the question. Instead, these respondents 
6

reported for a typical week. In one interview, the interviewer asked the respondent if he noticed 

the calendar at the top of page 5, and he said he noticed it, but he had “no idea of purpose of 

this.” A third respondent asked if he should answer, based on the workers he had on payroll 

during the week referenced in the question only. He then assumed he should and proceeded to 

answer yes. 

Despite the reformatting of the include and exclude statements, some respondents did not read 

these instructions before answering the survey question. Several respondents indicated that they 

read the include statements, but not the exclude statements. 

Respondents did not interpret the terms “contract workers” and “custom workers” consistently. 

Some respondents correctly interpreted contract workers as referring to agricultural labor that is 

provided through a farm contractor (not hired and paid directly by the farmer). Others interpreted 

contract workers to be trades such as electricians, plumbers, welders, or others hired to do 

maintenance work on farm (e.g., dig trenches). The term “contract worker” was sometimes 

misinterpreted to mean workers hired and paid by the farm operation but under the conditions of 

a contract. Similarly, a few respondents thought workers whom they hired and paid directly but 

were issued a 1099 as opposed to a W-2 would be considered a contract worker. One respondent 

correctly reported his employee, whom he issues a 1099, as hired labor, since he hired and paid 

him directly. Other respondents indicated they did not know the meaning of “contract workers.”

Some respondents interpreted custom workers as workers with specialized skills who are hired to 

perform discrete, occasional tasks on the operation such as harvesting, spraying fertilizer, or

spreading manure. However, many respondents indicated they were unfamiliar with the term 

“custom worker.” Respondents who were unfamiliar with this term often just indicated they did

not know the meaning of the term. However, one respondent indicated that he inferred it to mean 

a worker whose job it is to export goods. 

Despite the misinterpretation of these terms and the number of respondents who did not read the 

exclude statements, it was reassuring that respondents all reported workers who were hired and 

paid directly by the farm operation. One respondent indicated that she had contract workers 

during the reference period and she read the exclude statement and correctly excluded them from 

this section. 

Respondents were not consistent in their reporting of sales employees. One respondent excluded 

sales and marketing staff because he interpreted “agricultural work” to be referring to work done 

solely outside. Another respondent indicated that he included some retail staff and excluded 

others. He included the ones who work in the office on the main farm operation because he 

considered them to be “office workers.” However, he excluded employees who handle retail 

sales at another location. It was not determined through probing why this discrepancy occurred. 

Another respondent included workers who handle sales to wholesale customers. 

Finally, there were also some comprehension issues found with the term “value-added workers.” 

Two respondents indicated that they did not know what this term meant. One respondent asked 

another colleague the meaning of this term. His colleague said a value-added worker was 

someone who brought more value to the company, such as an expert providing recommendations 
7

about nursery plants or possibly temporary workers. One respondent indicated that he was 

familiar with this term because he has been the recipient of grants for producing value-added 

products, and he interpreted this term as a worker who “enhances the product.” Interestingly, he 

did not consider his employee, who works in his winery assisting him with tasks related to wine 

making (e.g., soaking grapes, pressing grapes, cleaning equipment), as a value-added worker. 

However, he did consider himself (the wine maker) to be a value-added worker.

3.1.2 Question 2 – Worker Table

When completing this table, respondents were instructed to: 1) record each worker only once; 2) 

separate the workers by the main type of work they were hired to do based on the groups 

outlined on page 4 of the questionnaire and by the base wages paid per hour; and 3) report only 

one week of wages for the reference week. Respondents often did not follow the second 

instruction. More than half the respondents reported average wages paid by worker code. It was 

not always clear if these respondents read the instruction and chose to ignore it or missed the 

instruction when answering the survey question. 

Some respondents, who did read the instruction, indicated it would be too difficult to follow 

given the number of employees they have and the range in wages that they are paid. Others 

indicated that they only knew the gross wages paid to their employees that week and divided that 

number by the number of workers and hours worked to determine the hourly rate paid to workers 

who fell under certain worker codes. 

Three respondents did not see the instruction and asked how they should report their workers 

who fall under the same code but make different wages. These respondents were reminded to 

complete the form however they would have if they received it in the mail. Two reported 

correctly. However, one respondent said he would report an average. This respondent later saw 

the instruction, but did not understand it and had to ask his son for help. His son did understand 

the intent of the instruction, but indicated that it would be too difficult to report their workers in 

this way. This respondent has 30 workers, who are paid approximately 10-12 different wage 

rates. To complicate this matter, this respondent does not categorize his workers in his records 

using the worker codes provided in the survey. To answer this question, he would first have to go 

through his payroll and code his workers. Then, he would need to determine which ones are paid 

the same wage rate and group them together. He said, “If I ran into this problem, I wouldn’t 

respond. It would take too long.” His son, who joined the interview to help him respond to this 

question, said: 

You would need more lines. The rates of pay are all across the board even for just 

truck drivers... We have seven truck drivers probably paid five different rates. I 

think it would make it easier if we didn’t have to break it down by base wage. 

Why can’t you do total hours worked and total gross wages paid? I would imagine

people are going to estimate.

They estimated it would take 45 minutes to answer Question 2 for one reference week. Similarly, 

another respondent indicated that she had 36 farmworkers that are paid 12 different wage rates. 

She was not willing to report these workers on separate lines and instead reported an average. 
8

Several other respondents indicated that if they needed to report in this way, they would need 

many more lines in the table to report all their workers. 

Another respondent read the instruction, but did not understand it and thought he was supposed 

to report all his workers on separate lines. 

Some respondents did follow the instruction. However, these respondents typically had very few 

workers to report and therefore, it did not place extra burden on them to report their workers in 

this way. 

Worker Codes

In Round 1, the worker codes appeared on the page preceding Section 1. This was problematic 

for many respondents. Some workers read the worker code page before beginning Section 1 and 

were unsure of the purpose of these codes. Some thought these codes were survey questions and 

attempted to provide a response by circling the codes that applied to their workers. Other 

respondents had difficulty locating the worker codes when answering Question 2. There was a 

page number in small font at the top of the worker code page (page 4) but respondents often did 

not see it. One respondent read the instruction (select from list on page 4) and said, “There are no 

page numbers.” Others counted the pages to determine which page was page 4 or flipped through 

the questionnaire several times until they were able to locate it. 

Respondents often had difficulty selecting the appropriate worker codes for their workers. Some 

respondents indicated that their workers perform tasks under multiple categories, making it 

difficult for them to select a single worker code. For example, a couple of respondents mentioned 

that supervisors also perform work listed under farmworkers and field equipment operators. One 

respondent asked if he should report one worker under two different codes on separate lines in 

the table. He ultimately listed this worker under the code for which he spent most of his time that 

week. Other respondents resolved this issue in the same way. 

A couple of respondents indicated the categories themselves seemed redundant. For example, 

one respondent pointed out that the category farmworker listed “grading, sorting and packing.” 

However, he also noted that two other categories are called “Graders and Sorters” and “Hand 

Packers and Packagers.” The respondent could not distinguish the difference between these three 

categories. 

Others assigned their workers to inappropriate codes. For example, one respondent put his 

worker under all other field workers. However, he should have placed him under farmworker 

based on the description he gave during probing. When asked why he did not assign his worker 

to the farmworker code, the respondent stated that he only performs 5 percent of the examples 

listed under farmworker and because he does not perform 95 percent of the other tasks he did not 

feel it was appropriate to place his worker under that code. 

One respondent indicated that she could not find a code to place her office staff under. So, she 

did not report them. 
9

Others also excluded workers who should have been included. The most commonly excluded 

type of workers were office workers, owners who were on the payroll, hired managers, family 

members, and part-time workers. Respondents cited three reasons for excluding these types of 

people. The first reason was the term “agricultural labor.” Respondents interpreted this to mean 

workers who are working directly with the crop/livestock, and not people who are on payroll but 

work inside an office. The other reason was the term “hired labor.” Respondents excluded family 

members or themselves because these people were not hired into their positions. One respondent 

indicated that she did read through the workers specified to be included and excluded for 

Question 1, but forgot to report family members when she was answering Question 2. 

Some respondents indicated that they do not track their workers by worker codes, or they use 

different worker codes in their records. Because of this, it was difficult for them to select an 

appropriate worker code. One respondent indicated that his workers are listed under the 

following categories in his records: supervisors, field workers, office workers, and drivers. This 

respondent said he would have to go through his payroll and code all his workers using the 

worker codes, and this would take a considerable amount of time.

A couple of respondents listed their workers under the work they currently do, not the work they 

were hired to do. This is because these workers have become more skilled over time and no 

longer perform the duties they were initially hired to do. However, others indicated that their 

workers are performing the work they were hired to do. 

One respondent said having “crop, nursery, and greenhouse” in the category title was confusing,

and it should be removed.

Finally, there was some concern that respondents would write the worker codes on the form and 

as a result the removal of the “work hired to do” column would be problematic for imputation. 

Only one respondent did not report the worker code properly. Instead of writing in a specific 

worker code, this respondent wrote in “field” for his mechanics and truck drivers and “other” for 

his clerical staff. This respondent had some initial difficulty locating the worker codes but did 

read through the subcategories before answering. It was not clear why he reported the worker 

codes in this way. 

Number of Paid Workers

“Number of paid workers” in the table was not probed on extensively because it was not the 

focus of this testing. When probed, some respondents indicated that they answered from memory 

or provided an estimate based on the number of workers they typically have on the payroll that 

time of year. Some respondents consulted records to find the exact number for the reference 

week. One respondent, who misinterpreted the instructions to this question and thought he 

should report each worker on a separate line, was very confused by this question. 

Base Wage Paid Per Hour

When asked how they interpreted “base wages paid per hour,” most respondents provided one of 

two interpretations: 1) pay excluding incentives, bonuses or overtime, and 2) hourly wages. One 
10

respondent indicated that it would include salaried wages in addition to hourly wages and 

another respondent indicated that the question was asking for the minimum wage. 

As indicated in Table 1, respondents paid their workers using different pay schemes, including 

hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly wages, annual salary, piece rate pay, and overtime. Because 

this question asked respondents to report an hourly wage, respondents who paid their workers a 

daily rate, salary, or piece rate had challenges answering this question. Respondents with salaried 

workers reported in two different ways. Some converted the workers’ salary to an hourly wage. 

Two respondents indicated that they reported the rate that they paid their hourly workers. One of 

these respondents indicated that she did this because her husband, who is salaried, works so 

many hours that it would appear he is paid $2/hour if she converted his pay to an hourly rate. 

Others, who had salaried employees, did not report them in this question. One respondent 

indicated that he did not report these workers because the question said, “base wage paid per 

hour” and he assumed this question was only asking about hourly workers. Another respondent 

indicated it would be too difficult to determine what his salaried employees made per hour. 

Three respondents, who received this version of the survey, paid piece rate. Two indicated that 

they did not have any piece rate workers during the reference week. One of these respondents 

said if he did have piece rate workers that week, he would write in the piece rate paid (not an 

hourly rate). Another respondent did not report his piece rate workers because the question said 

to exclude “incentive pay,” which he interpreted to mean piece rate pay. 

One respondent who paid her workers a daily rate had to hand calculate the hourly rate. She did 

not take into account other factors such as health insurance or housing that she provides to her 

employees. Additionally, this respondent pays workers who fall under the same worker code 

different daily rates. However, she ended up reporting these workers on the same line and 

reported the same rates for them rather than do the additional work to calculate them separately. 

When probed on their understanding of the “incentive pay” in this question, most respondents 

interpreted this to mean end-of-year or season bonuses. Others interpreted it to mean piece rate, 

or incentivized payment based on speed or difficulty of the task. None of the respondents 

included incentive pay in their response to this question. Some indicated they do not provide 

incentive pay. Others indicated they do provide it, but not during this time of year. A couple of 

respondents indicated they understood to exclude it. 

Some respondents did include overtime pay in their response to this question. Note they were not 

instructed to exclude it. When calculating base wages paid per hour, a couple of respondents 

divided their gross wages by hours worked. Because the gross wages contained overtime pay, 

this overtime pay was then included in the base wages paid per hour. 

Total Hours Worked

Respondents should have separated their workers by the work they were hired to do, and the base 

wages paid, and then report the total hours worked for those workers on each line. However, 

respondents did not report total hours worked in a consistent format. Only three of the 19 

respondents reported total hours worked. 
11

One respondent reported the total minimum hours worked, and two reported the average hours 

worked multiplied by number of employees. Four respondents reported the average hours 

worked per person per week (e.g., 40 hours). Similarly, one respondent reported the total hours 

worked per person. 

Four respondents indicated that they do not track hours. One of these respondents divided the 

total gross wages for the week by the hourly rate to get the total number of hours worked. One 

respondent said he would need to categorize his workers under the different worker codes and 

then sum up the total hours worked for each code. Two respondents indicated they would not 

report total hours worked. 

Two respondents did not answer this question during the testing. One respondent did not have his 

records available and refused to answer any questions for which he would need to provide an 

estimate. Another respondent said it was too difficult to separate his workers by the work they 

were hired to do and base wages paid. Therefore, he would not answer the questions in the 

worker table. Five others were not probed on this question. 

Total Gross Wages That Week

Respondents did not report “total gross wages that week” consistently. Some respondents 

indicated that they could pull gross wages out of their payroll records. Others indicated that they 

would need to ask someone else to pull this number from their records. Among those who would 

use their records, most of the respondents understood that this number would be wages paid 

before deductions and would include overtime and incentive pay. However, one respondent who 

used his records to identify gross wages was first unsure if the question was asking about net pay 

or gross pay. He ultimately reported gross wages paid, and this number included overtime. 

Although some respondents could locate this number in their records, it was difficult for them to 

report the total gross wages for workers separated by worker code and base wage rate for reasons 

detailed above. 

Other respondents said they would not access records. Instead, they would calculate gross wages 

based on hours worked and the wage rate paid. When respondents calculated gross wages using 

the hours and base wages reported on the form, only a few respondents answered correctly. 

These respondents did not provide overtime or incentive pay and they indicated they would 

multiply the total hours worked by the wage. When respondents reported incorrectly, it was due

to misreporting in previous questions. For example, one respondent indicated that she would 

multiply total hours worked by the average base wage rate paid and add in overtime wages. 

Similarly, others, who had reported average hourly rates and average hours, indicated they would 

multiply the average hourly rate by the average hours worked and then multiply that number by 

the number of employees. Another respondent multiplied the average wage rate by the total 

hours worked and did not include incentives paid. Finally, some respondents, who had reported 

the wage rate and hours worked per person, reported the gross wages paid per person. 

When answering reporting “total gross wages that week,” respondents interpreted “incentive 

pay” to mean piece rate pay, end-of-season bonuses or incentives for production incentives (e.g., 
12

bonus paid to dairy worker if milk meets certain quality threshold). As mentioned above, one 

respondent did not include the incentive pay given to one employee because she multiplied the 

average wage rate by total hours to get the total gross wages paid. Overtime pay was interpreted 

as pay for work beyond a 40-hour work week and pay at a rate of time and a half. Most of the

respondents who paid overtime said they would include it in their gross wages.

Finally, a few respondents also mentioned providing in-kind payments, such as food and 

housing, but did not include these in the gross wages paid. 

3.1.3 Round 1 Recommendations: 

1. Do not ask respondents to report an hourly wage rate. 

Resolution: Accepted. 

2. Do not ask respondents to group workers by worker code and the base wage paid per 

hour. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided it wanted to continue to ask 

respondents to group workers by worker code and base-wage rate, and test further.

3. Ask respondents to report total base wages paid for workers who are listed under the 

same worker code.

Resolution: Accepted. 

4. Instruct respondents to exclude incentive and overtime pay from total base wages paid. 

Resolution: The Labor Team decided to instruct respondents to exclude incentive 

pay from base wages paid and test further.

5. Define contract, custom, and value-added workers. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 

6. Define agricultural labor.

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 

7. Place worker codes between Sections 1 and 2. 

Resolution: Accepted

8. Make page numbers large and centered at the top of the page to increase visibility.

Resolution: Accepted
13

9. Provide instructions for selecting worker codes when more than one worker code is 

applicable. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 

10. Instruct respondents to report workers under the worker code that best describes the work 

they currently do rather than the work they were hired to do. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 

11. Reformat the include and exclude statements so they appear in a single column rather 

than double banked. 

Resolution: Accepted

12. Span Sections 1 and 2 across two pages to accommodate additional 

instructions/definitions.

Resolution: Accepted

3.2 Round 2

One respondent was interviewed in Round 2. Several changes were made to the questionnaire in 

Round 2. First, the screener question that asked if respondents had agricultural workers on the 

payroll during the reference week, the question that asked for the total number of workers during 

the reference week, and the 150-day question were moved to the page preceding the worker table

(Figure 3). The instructions for the worker table were reworded and reformatted to improve 

readability (Figure 4). The question that asked for “base wage paid per hour” was changed to 

“total base wages paid.” In an attempt to encourage respondents to follow the instruction to 

report workers who fall under the same worker code and are paid the same base wage rate on the 

same line, the column that asks about “total base wages paid” was moved to after “worker 

codes.” 
14

Figure 3. Round 2 Screener, Number of Workers and 150 Day Question

Figure 4. Round 2 Worker Table
15

3.2.1 Questions 1 and 2 – Screener and Number of Workers

The respondent had no problem answering Questions 1 and 2, and he said that he had around 10 

part-time employees who worked during the reference week. 

3.2.2 Question 3 – 150-Day Question

When answering Question 3 (150-Day Question), he asked if this question was asking about 

“regular workers,” meaning “workers who worked year-round” as opposed to one season. He 

then said 150 days is five months, so he assumed that the question was asking how many of the 

workers who worked during that week also worked more than five months. 

3.2.3 Question 4 - Worker Table

When this respondent read the first two sentences in Question 4, he said he did not know what 

was meant by “worker code.” He then continued reading through the instructions. When he 

began to fill out the worker table, he looked at the worker codes on page 5 and understood he 

needed to list his workers under the codes provided. He said the two bullets instructing him to 

report each worker once and report for one week only were straightforward. However, he felt the 

second bullet was unnecessary since the first sentence in the instructions says to report for the 

week of January 7th through the 13th. 

Once he began to fill out the questionnaire, this respondent understood to separate his workers by 

the worker code and the base wages paid. For example, he had workers that he listed under code 

15 that earn different wage rates. He listed four of these workers on one line and five on another 

line. He said that although he understood the instructions on how to group his workers, he was 

confused about how to report base wages for groups of workers. This finding is detailed below. 

He suggested putting an example in the table to show respondents how to answer this question

When the respondent looked at the list of worker codes, he indicated that he had workers who 

perform many of the jobs listed. He said he could select codes 11, 12, 13, 15, 31, and 43, and that 

many of his employees could be listed under more than one code. During the interview, he only 

listed workers that fell under codes 11 and 15 to save time. 

The respondent had a lot of difficulty determining what to report for total base wages paid. When 

he first looked at that column, he asked if he needed to report total base wages for the week of 

January 7th through the 13th. He then determined that he did and said he would multiply the 

hourly rate by the hours worked to determine the total base wages paid. He then said he was 

assuming this was before taxes and it was easier for him to report the base wages paid before 

taxes. He then verified that he should report a total for all workers who fall under the same 

worker code. After being instructed to answer the questions as he interpreted them, he said he 

would enter worker code “11” in the first column, then write in “2” workers in the number of 

workers column. He then reported their total hours, and then he stopped and indicated that he 

was still confused about what to enter in the base wages column. He asked, “Is column 2 (base 

wage) per person? Per employee of that code or total?” He interpreted it to be per person and 

reported that he had two workers under worker code 11 that made $360/each a week. He then 
16

wrote in that they worked a total of 48 hours (24 hours each). He understood to exclude 

incentive pay when reporting base wages. To determine the gross wages paid, this respondent 

multiplied the base wages paid ($360) by the number of workers (2). He said he was excluding 

incentive pay, which he interpreted as a bonus because he does not pay bonuses in January. 

When reporting workers that fell under code 15, he once again reported the base wages paid per 

week per employee. However, he understood to report total hours worked for the group of 

workers and total gross wages paid. 

In addition to the issue with base wages, this respondent also indicated that he was unfamiliar 

with the terms “value-added worker” and “contract and custom work.” He also asked how to 

report family members. He did not report them and did not see the instruction to include them in 

his response. 

Finally, he suggested adding “that week” to the column headers or the reference period to the top 

of the worker table to clarify that only workers who were on payroll that week should be 

reported. 

3.2.4 Round 2 Recommendations: 

1. Define custom, contract, and value-added workers.

2. Add “that week” to total base wages paid, number of paid workers, and total hours worked. 

3.3 Round 3

In Round 3, no changes were made to Questions 1-3 in Sections 1 and 2. However, the base 

wage question in Question 4 was reworded (Figure 5). Instead of asking the total base wages 

paid, the question went back to asking about a base wage rate, but allowed respondents to specify 

the unit (e.g., per hour, week, year, or piece). In addition, three examples were added to the table. 

Two respondents were administered this version of the questionnaire. Both used records to 

answer the survey questions.
17

Figure 5. Round 3 Worker Table

3.3.1 Question 2 – Number of Workers

When answering Question 1, one respondent did not read the include and exclude statements,

and included contract workers in his response to Questions 1 and 2. However, he caught his 

mistake before moving on and was able to correct his answer to Question 2. Had he reported 

contract labor, he would have reported an additional 2,000 workers. Additionally, this respondent 

had problems with the usability of the questionnaire. When he was answering Question 2, he saw 

the item code in the response box and asked, “What the hell is 660?” Throughout the 

questionnaire, whenever there was a question where the response box was to the right of the 

question, he wrote his answer below the question instead of in the response box. 

The second respondent interpreted this question as asking “how many people worked for you 

that week” as opposed to “how many people were on your payroll.” However, he did not have 

any additional workers who were on the payroll but not working that week. This respondent did 

read through the include and exclude statements before answering Questions 1 and 2. He 

indicated that he did not know what was meant by “retail workers” and “value-added workers.” 

He also said that excluding contract and custom workers made it easier for him to fill out the 

form. During harvest, he has up to 1,000 contract workers. 

3.3.2 Question 3 – 150-Day Question
18

When answering the question that asked “In 2018, how many of these total paid workers for that 

week will be paid by this operation for 150 days or more of work,” one respondent interpreted 

this question correctly (i.e. How many of the workers on payroll that week will work more than 

150 days). He answered “5,” indicating that all the workers that he reported in Question 2 would 

work more than 150 days in 2018. The other respondent did not enter a number in the response 

space. Instead he wrote “yes” below the question. This was the same respondent mentioned 

above, who had usability issues with the form. During probing he said he missed the stem of the 

question, which asked “how many of these total paid workers...” 

3.3.3 Question 4 – Worker Table

Reference Period

One respondent in this round was confused by the reference period in the question. He said the 

reference period asks for a Sunday through a Saturday, but he pays his workers Monday through 

Saturday. This respondent also wondered if he should report himself and his wife since they were 

paid monthly, not weekly. He asked why there was not an option of “month” in the unit for base 

wages paid. He looked at the examples, but they further confused him. When looking at the third 

example in the worker table, which shows how to report a worker who earns an annual salary, he 

asked how someone could earn $41,000 in one week. This example showed that the worker 

earned $39,000 a year in base wages. However, the “gross wages paid that week” were 

incorrectly listed as $41,000. He ultimately reported himself and his wife and reported their 

annual salary because he did not see an option for reporting their monthly wages. 

Worker Codes

When answering this question, one respondent thought he had to transfer all the codes to the 

worker table. He began to write in all the codes and then looked at the examples and realized he 

only needed to write in the codes that applied to his operation. He ultimately reported that he 

had workers that fell under codes 11, 12, 20, and 31. In general, he listed his workers under the 

codes that represented the work they did that week rather than the work they were hired to do. 

However, he misclassified some of his workers. He listed office staff under code 31. He also had 

difficulty finding a code that applied to him. He ended up listing himself under code 31 as well. 

Like the previous respondent, the second respondent did not assign worker codes based on the 

type of work his workers were hired to do. Instead, he assigned worker codes based on the work 

they perform most of the time. He also did not read through the full list of worker codes before 

assigning them to his workers. As a result, he listed his workers under the first code that applied 

(all other field workers), rather than the code that best reflected the work they perform (first line 

supervisors). He later caught his mistake and corrected it. 

Base Wages Paid

Both respondents understood they needed to enter a dollar amount and then enter the unit of pay.

However, they interpreted the term base wages differently. The first respondent interpreted base 

wages as the entry level wage he pays his workers. All his workers on payroll earn an hourly 
19

wage. He has employees under the same worker codes who earn different hourly rates. Instead of 

separating them by worker code and base wages, he reported a low average wage for workers 

under each worker code listed. When asked about this, he said he always thinks in averages. He 

suggested adding “do not report the average” to the column header but he then said that most 

farmers probably will not take the time to breakout pay for each worker code

The second respondent interpreted base wages as the hourly pay or minimum pay. He indicated 

that all his employees earn an hourly wage. However, he and his wife earn a salary and are paid 

monthly. He had difficulty determining how to report base wages for himself and his wife. He 

asked why “month” was not offered as a unit. He ended up reporting their individual annual 

salary.

Both respondents understood incentives to be additional pay given to workers for each box 

picked during harvest season. For example, one respondent indicated he pays his workers 40 

cents per box in addition to their hourly rate during the harvest. 

Number of Paid Workers

Neither respondent had difficulty entering the number of workers in this column. However, they 

did not separate the workers correctly. Both understood that workers who fell under the same 

worker code should be grouped together. But they did not separate them based on base wages 

paid. 

Total Hours Worked

The first respondent reported the average hours worked per worker per week instead of the total 

hours worked. The second respondent understood to report the total hours worked, but he said he 

did not keep track of the hours he and his wife worked. He estimated that they worked 80 hours 

total. He located his employees’ total hours worked that week on their paystubs. 

Total Gross Wages That Week

Before answering, the first respondent asked if gross wages included benefits the employer was 

required to pay, such as workman’s compensation. He then multiplied base wages reported by 

the number of workers and then multiplied that number by the average hours worked per 

employee per week. 

To report gross wages for his employees, the second respondent multiplied the base wages 

reported by the number of employees (he only had one worker per row) and then multiplied that 

number by the estimated total hours worked. For himself and his wife, he looked at their pay 

stubs to get their monthly salaries. He then divided their monthly salaries by 4 and then summed 

that number to get their total gross wages for that week. 

Peak Number of Workers
20

Respondents in this round were probed on the peak number of workers and H-2A questions 

(Figure 6). One respondent interpreted this question as asking for the maximum number of 

employees his operation had during the year. He did not see the exclude statement to exclude 

contract labor at first and responded “6,000.” After answering the question, he then saw the 

include/exclude statements and changed his answer to “80.” Once again, this same respondent 

did not use the response box and instead wrote his answer below the question. 

The other respondent reported the same five workers he has on payroll all year. He said he saw 

the include/exclude statements but said he did not read them thoroughly. He said he assumed that 

he should not report contract labor. 

Figure 6. Round 3 Peak Number of Workers and H-2A

H-2A

Both respondents were familiar with the H-2A program. However, neither hired any H-2A 

workers. 

3.3.4 Round 3 Recommendations: 

1. Remove item codes from the response boxes

Resolution: Denied. This change impacts many surveys and would need to go 

through the specs process.

2. Define value-added workers

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 
21

3. Do not ask respondents to report base wage rates. Instead, ask them to report total base 

wages paid. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to continue testing base wage rates, 

and to add an additional worker table for piece rate pay. 

4. Do not ask respondents to separate workers by worker code and base rates paid.

Resolution: The Labor Team decided to test asking respondents to separate workers 

by worker code and if workers make different base wage rates, to average those 

wage rates. 

5. Instruct respondents to report workers under the worker code that best describes the work 

they currently do rather than the work they were hired to do. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 

6. For the peak number question, place the dot leader after the last exclude statement. 

Resolution: Denied. 

3.4 Round 4

There were three respondents interviewed in Round 4. In Round 4, Questions 1-3 in Sections 1 

and 3 remained the same. A new worker table was added to the questionnaire for workers who 

were paid a piece rate. Following Question 3, respondents were asked a screener question to 

determine whether they had any workers during the reference period that received piece rate pay. 

If they answered yes, they were instructed to complete the new worker table (Figure 7). If they 

answered no, they were instructed to continue to Question 6 (Non-Piece Rate Worker Table). 

This table asked detailed information on other workers on the payroll during the reference week 

(Figure 8). The wording of Question 6 was changed to instruct respondents to report workers 

who fall under the same worker code on a single line and if the workers listed under the same 

worker code make different base wages, to average those wages. Respondents were also 

instructed to exclude workers who were reported in the piece rate table. Three respondents 

received this version during testing. 
22

Figure 7. Round 4 Piece Rate Screener and Worker Table
23

Figure 8. Round 4 Worker Table for Non-Piece Rate Pay

3.4.1 Question 1 - Screener

Two of the respondents provided valid responses to Question 1, indicating that they had workers 

on the payroll to perform agricultural work during the reference week. One of these respondents 

read through the include/exclude statements out loud before answering. 

The third respondent was unsure whether this question was asking about H-2A workers or nonH-2A workers. The interviewer instructed him to answer the question however he interpreted it. 

He then answered “no,” because he had no H-2A workers during the reference period. Later, 

during probing, he read the question again and noticed the include/exclude statements and said, 

“I thought initially, it was pertaining to H-2A, but now reading the includes, I guess I should 

have answered yes because I have a full-time mechanic.” He said he did not read the 

include/exclude statements the first time he read the question. Note that the include/exclude 

statements do not mention H-2A workers specifically, but they do instruct respondents to report 

workers on the payroll and exclude contract labor. When asked whether there was anyone else on 

the payroll other than the mechanic during this time period he said, “It’s possible.” He said he 

would have to look at his payroll records.
24

3.4.2 Question 2 – Number of Workers

Respondents were not probed on this question. 

3.4.3 Question 3- 150-Day Question

Respondents were not probed on the question that asked, “In 2018, how many of these total paid 

workers for that week will be paid by this operation for 150 days or more of work” but two 

respondents did express confusion with it. When answering, one respondent asked, “Now we’re 

still talking about that week?” He said he was assuming this question was asking whether the 

respondents he reported in the previous question were full-time employees. He suggested putting 

the reference week in parentheses in the question.

Another respondent said this question was difficult for him to answer. He said “some might be 

right at that threshold. It’s hard to predict how many go beyond 150 days.” He said most of his 

workers are seasonal (February through November) and there is a smaller crew (about 20) that 

works year-round. He then said that the ones who were working in January would probably work 

more than 150 days, but it would be difficult at this point in the year to give an exact count of 

who would stay on. 

3.4.4 Question 4 – Piece Rate Screener

The purpose of this question was to screen respondents into or out of the piece rate worker table. 

All three respondents answered “no” to this question and indicated during probing that they do 

not pay piece rate in January. All respondents were able to follow the skip pattern to the nonpiece rate pay worker table.

3.4.5 Question 5 – Piece Rate Worker Table

Although all three respondents were skipped out of this table, all were probed on the questions in 

the table and all indicated that the table would be difficult to complete. 

The three respondents in this round all paid piece rate. However, they had different pay schemes. 

One respondent grew only one type of fruit and paid his workers $4.50 per crate if the crop 

conditions were good. However, if the crop was not good, he would pull his piece rate workers 

out of the field and harvest using machinery. The workers who operate the machinery are paid 

significantly more because they are operating an expensive piece of equipment. Another

respondent paid his workers different piece rates depending on the vegetable they were picking. 

If they did not pick enough during the week to make minimum wage, he would switch them to 

an hourly rate. He also paid his workers based on the vegetables that were packed, not picked. 

His workers are organized in groups of 20, and all workers within the group are paid the same 

piece rate, which could range from 60 cents to a dollar depending on what type of vegetable they 

picked. Because they are paid an adjusted rate based on what was packed, not picked, asking for 

the piece rate paid and the units picked would not equate to what they were paid. The third 

respondent paid his workers an hourly rate and a piece rate on top of that based on the jobs 
25

performed. Piece rates are determined based on the job they were performing (e.g., transplanting, 

pruning) and the size of the area they were working (e.g., a worker spacing 1-gallon plants in a 

12 x 12 space may earn 5 cents a plant, whereas a worker spacing a 3-gallon plants in a 18 x 18 

space may get 7 cents a plant). He said he considers this to be piece rate pay, but he also 

considers it to be a bonus on top of their hourly wage. To calculate their wages, he calculates

what they would earn for the week on an hourly rate and what they would earn for the week on a 

piece rate and then subtracts what they would have earned on piece rate from what they earned 

on an hourly rate and pays them that amount as the bonus in addition to the hourly wage. To 

complicate things further, workers are paid an hourly rate at the end of the week for the hours 

worked that week. They are not paid the piece rate pay that week. Instead they are paid for it the 

following week. He added that he believed he should be reporting these workers in this table as 

opposed to the other worker table because this table was for “piece rate” workers. 

In this question, respondents were instructed to “Fill out the table below for the workers you paid 

on a piece rate basis to do agricultural work the week of January 7th through January 13th. Report 

workers who fall under the same worker code on a single line. If workers in the same worker 

category make different piece rate wages, please average those wages.” They were instructed to 

report workers only once (in addition to other instructions). Respondents then had to report the 

worker code, piece rate paid, number of workers, number of units, total hours, and total gross 

wages. Two of the three respondents read through the instructions before beginning the table. 

While reading the instructions, one respondent said this table was very burdensome. As he was 

reading the instructions, he stopped and said, 

Oh my god! I could do it... I wouldn’t do it. It’s too detailed. Too much of my 

time... We employ over 1,000 people a year and we have owners, general 

managers, four managers, 10 supervisors, 50 key workers, some in the packing 

house, some field operations... sprayers. It’s not a simple process. Then you get 

into piece rate workers.

In addition to the time it would take to complete this table, the respondent felt the questions were 

intrusive. He said this section of the survey is asking “very sensitive, proprietary” information 

and that this survey is “going into the weeds.... Okay. How much I pay a general manager? I 

take offense to that. It’s an inappropriate question.” He said he could understand asking how 

many pounds he picked but asking how much he paid his workers is too intrusive and made him 

question NASS’s intentions. “My red flags went off immediately... What I pay a supervisor 

versus an operator. I have some operators who have been on my farm for 20 years. I pay him 

more than someone who is new.” He said he was not comfortable providing this type of 

information. 

The other two respondents attempted to complete the table but had difficulty as illustrated below. 

Worker Codes

All three workers had an issue with the worker code question. One respondent commented that 

his workers could be listed under both codes 11 and 12. On a given day, one worker may prune 
26

plants with hand tools and transplant plants using equipment and are paid a different piece rate 

depending on the task they are performing. He also added that most of his workers use 

equipment on the job, but they are not paid a different rate because of this. The rate they are paid 

is determined by the type of job they are performing and the size of the area they are working 

(e.g., moving 1-gallon plants in a 12 x 12 area vs moving 3-gallon plants in an 18 x 18 space). 

Another respondent first said that he would report all his workers under code 11. He later 

realized he should have reported them under code 12 because none of them operate equipment. 

He said he selected the first category that said, “harvest crops.” The third respondent said there 

were no codes that applied to his workers. He said his workers manually pick the crop, but he 

would not list them under code 12. He said: 

A piece rate agricultural worker is a hand harvester. A professional picker. They 

have nothing to do with- If I hand them a hoe, they’d look at me and say you have 

the wrong person... My workers don’t fall under any of these categories... you’re 

asking me about piece rate. Piece rate is on its own.

He said the people he hires are skilled workers, who harvest by hand and are paid a higher rate 

for their skills. He said they do not use hand tools, spray, or drive tractors. 

Piece Rate Pay

The two respondents who attempted to complete the piece rate table indicated that they could not 

follow the instructions to report all workers who fall under the same worker code on a single line 

and to average wages if workers in the same worker category make different piece rate wages. 

These respondents both stated that the workers listed under the same worker codes are often 

doing different jobs and earning different piece rates for the jobs they are performing. They 

indicated that it would be a difficult task for them to go through all their workers and determine 

what they picked that week and then average the pay across the workers. In addition, they did not 

feel the estimates produced would accurately reflect the true wages paid. One respondent first 

thought he would be able to follow this instruction, but upon thinking about it further, he 

indicated it would not make sense to do so: “It wouldn’t be that bad, I guess. I would just 

average them together, well no, no. You can’t do that.” He said there is a large disparity between 

the different piece rates paid for the different vegetables he grows. For example, for some 

vegetables he pays 60 cents per piece and for others he pays $1.25 per piece. He would need to 

determine for each worker the percentage of the time spent picking each crop and then average 

the piece rate wages. Otherwise, “the math would be way off.”

The other respondent indicated that the workers he would list under a single worker code are 

performing similar but different jobs and their pay reflected that. He said his workers are paid an 

hourly wage and then a piece rate on top of that based on the job they are doing and the size of 

the area they are working in. He did not think it was appropriate to lump them together and 

average their piece rates. He said, “They’re both doing the same job but earning different rates 

because the task is different.” He then added that each worker could start a day spacing 1-gallon

plants and after a couple of hours move to another house and space plants in an 18 x 18 area. 

Any given worker could space different types of plants during the day and make different rates 

during the day. He did not know how he could accurately report the wages in this table. When 
27

the interviewer asked him how he would respond to this question if it appeared on the survey he 

said, “I’d probably just skip it.” He then added, “I could probably try to average it out, but it 

would probably get convoluted doing all kinds of averages.” He said it would be easier to just 

report the total amount paid for piece rate earnings, and he would be able to report this by worker 

code. 

Number of Workers

This question was not probed on. 

Total Number of Units

Respondents were not probed on this question.

Total Gross Wages Paid on a Piece Rate Basis that Week

The two respondents were divided on their reaction to the gross wages paid column. One 

respondent said this was the easiest information to report. He felt that the gross wages question 

should come before the other questions on wages. He said, “Start with something that’s easy and 

then maybe it’s easier for them (respondents) to deconstruct.”

The other respondent said the gross wages paid would only reflect what the workers earned on 

piece rate and not the total gross wages paid that week. He said if workers only picked the 

equivalent of $8 an hour, he would need to default to minimum wage and pay them $12.19 an 

hour. However, he did not think he should report gross wages based on $12.19 an hour. When 

asked why, he said because the question says, “paid on a piece rate basis,” not an hourly rate. He 

said if the question asked for “total gross wages paid,” he would report their true wage. This 

same respondent said the example provided indicated that the workers did not pick enough to 

reach minimum wage. He said if you have four workers working 200 hours and were paid 50 

cents a bushel and they picked 3,200 bushels that is the equivalent of $8 an hour, which is below 

minimum wage. 

3.4.6 Question 6 – Worker Table for Non-Piece Rate Pay

Two respondents were routed to this question and completed the worker table. One respondent 

who was skipped to the end of the survey because he answered no to the screener, looked at this 

table and said in order to fill it out, he would need to run a payroll report. He then asked why the 

question asked about a specific week in January. He said, “We’re on the East Coast. I can give 

you lots of information within our season. We’re shutdown October through March.” He 

suggested having the farm pick a week during their peak season to fully capture the type of 

workers on his payroll.

Before beginning the table, one respondent read through the instructions. The other respondent 

went straight to the table and began filling it out. 
28

The respondent who read the instructions noted that the instructions said incentives include 

bonus pay and they should not report overtime pay in base wages. He then said that he considers 

incentive to mean piece rate pay. He recommended changing the instruction to say, “incentive 

includes bonuses (excluding piece rate)” since piece rate workers were reported in the previous 

table. Although this respondent read the instructions before beginning the table, he did not follow 

the instructions when answering the questions. As a result, he did not report workers who were 

on the payroll but on leave during the reference week. Also, he did not report his office workers. 

When the interviewer pointed out the instruction to report workers who were on paid leave, he 

said he would interpret this to mean sick leave. He said, “I’d probably elaborate on that more.” 

He suggested adding “vacation” after paid leave. 

The respondent who did not read the instructions before beginning the worker table did not 

classify his workers correctly; did not follow the instruction to report workers who fall under the 

same worker code on a single line; and did not average the wages for workers in the same worker 

category making different base wages. Instead, he reported all his workers under a single worker 

code and then reported an average wage. When the interviewer pointed the instructions out to 

him during probing, he indicated that he was not willing to do more than he did. More 

information is provided on this below. 

Worker Codes

The first respondent said he did not know what “worker codes” were but he understood to look 

for them on page 5 of the questionnaire. When he looked at the list of codes, he selected the first 

one that applied to his operation (11 – agricultural equipment operators) and listed all his 

workers under this code even though his workers would be better classified under other codes. 

For example, he listed a supervisor, equipment operators, and “laborers” (people who plant and 

transplant) under “agricultural equipment operators.” When asked why he listed these workers 

under this code, he said, “I didn’t see anything in there that gave me a combo. It’s going to be a 

very difficult question for you to get down. For you to get the right coding.” The interviewer 

then asked why he chose this code and not another code, he said:

It just seemed more relevant. Drive and control farm equipment, and plant, and 

harvest crops. I couldn’t find anything that would cover what it needs to cover. 

We fill these out quickly. You better make it real simple because you’re either not 

going to get it or what you get is going to skew your results.

He then added that selecting a worker code is “a very difficult question for a grower because of 

the diversity of jobs.” He said other respondents are going to “blow through this” and choose the 

first category that applies. He said to respond to this survey, he would have to pull his accountant

in, and he is not going to do that and be charged by the hour for his services. 

The interviewer then asked him to look at the instruction on how to report workers. He said he 

did not read this instruction to report workers who fell under the same category on one line, but 

this was all he was willing to do. He said, “I’m not going to play with this survey and break it 

down. No other growers are going to spend a lot of time on this.” He said he “assumed that I 

could average the wages because I’m not doing it any other way... You start asking me to break 
29

this thing down... we’re only talking 10 people. If this goes into June with multiple tasks and 

pay scales, the survey has failed you. You’d have to take me to court (to get him to respond).” 

The second respondent also had difficulty selecting an appropriate worker code. He said he had a 

lot of employees who could be placed either under 12 (farmworkers) or 13 (graders and sorters): 

“It’s sort of a toss-up whether we’d call them 12 or 13. It’s just difficult for us to categorize our 

people. They do a little bit of everything.” He said there are some workers who are more 

specialized like the graders and sorters, but they only work during the harvest. He said some

workers pull orders but during harvest they might be driving tractors. Thus, he would put them 

under code 11. However, while driving a tractor, they might be grading to pick the perfect plant 

for an order. He said again, “It’s difficult for us to classify our folks.” He said they could go 

under codes 11, 12, 13, or 14. He then said that during the January reference period they are 

performing fewer tasks. In January, they do not pull orders. He said they would probably be split 

between 11 (equipment operators) and 12 (farmworkers) with most of them falling under 12. 

During January, he has about 25 people on the payroll. He then asked if he should be including 

his office workers. The interviewer instructed him to answer the question however he interpreted 

it. He then said:

Well it says agricultural workers, but it seems to be inclusive of everybody. Well,

I think in the context of the categories, I would exclude office workers who are 

strictly admin and production workers I would include.

He then asked, “Is there a category for managers?” Note, he could not see the full list of 

categories on his computer screen and the interviewer had to scroll up and down the screen for 

him several times. He was able to identify a code for his managers. He said other than 

determining what code to choose, it would be easy to fill this table out for the rest of his workers. 

He said again that most workers would fall under codes 11 and 12, but for January, most would 

fall under 12. “As you get into the year, it would be very difficult for us to do in terms of 

categorizing.”

Base Wages

In this round of testing, respondents were instructed to separate their workers by worker code. If 

their workers, who fell under the same code earned different wage rates, they were instructed to 

average those wage rates. Both respondents followed these instructions. However, the first 

respondent listed different types of workers, who were earning different wages rates, under a 

single worker code. For example, under code 11 (equipment operators), he had a supervisor who 

earned $18 an hour, three equipment operators who earned on average around $16 an hour, and 

six laborers who earned $12 an hour. He listed all 10 of these workers as earning $15 an hour on 

average. Respondents did not include incentive or overtime pay in their base wages. 

Number of Workers

Respondents had no problem listing the number of workers on each row. 

Total Hours
30

Both respondents understood to report the total hours the workers worked that week. 

Total Gross Wages

To determine gross wages, one respondent multiplied the total hours worked by the average base 

wages that he reported on the questionnaire. Note that this number included workers who 

perform different jobs at different wage rates. He did not include any incentive or overtime pay 

in his response. The other respondent said he would need to look at the gross wages paid in his 

payroll records to answer this question. He said some workers that week may have overtime pay 

but most would not. 

Only one of the respondents was probed on incentive pay. Although he read the definition of 

incentive pay provided on the form, he considered incentive pay to be piece rate pay. Therefore, 

he did not report any piece rate pay in the gross wages column. 

3.4.7 Other Comments

One respondent wondered why the survey did not ask about H-2A workers. He thought it would 

be beneficial to collect information on the number of H-2A workers on farms and the wages paid 

to them. He said the H-2A program was “fantastic” in terms of getting workers, but “the wage is 

too high.” He said the Department of Labor uses average wages for agricultural workers to 

establish the adverse effect wage rate that must be paid to H-2A workers. He feels this is an 

inflated rate. He added that if you have domestic workers on the payroll and H-2A workers, you 

must pay your domestic workers the same wages as the H-2A workers. But for domestic workers 

you need to incorporate benefits, social security, etc. and that raises their wages up to about $14 

an hour, and he does not feel that they are doing a job that reflects a $14 an hour wage rate. He 

said that many farmers use the H-2A program due to a lack of domestic workers. However, he 

noted that his concern is that the Department of Labor will look at the estimates produced from 

the Agricultural Labor Survey and think the wages of agricultural labor have gone up because of 

the economy, but the wages are really being driven up by the H-2A program itself (because the 

wage minimums are so high). 

He gave the following example: If in 2017, 35 percent of operations used H-2A and the rest paid 

the state/federal minimum wage, and if in 2018 60 percent of operations used H-2A workers, it

would look like agricultural labor wages have gone up substantially. However, it would not be 

because the economy is good and farmers can pay workers more. It would be because more of 

them are reliant on H-2A workers, and they have to pay H-2A significantly more than they 

would if they had domestic workers making state minimum wage. Then in turn, the Department 

of Labor could raise the wages for H-2A workers because they think the economy is doing well. 

He worries that the more people use the H-2A program, the more the wages for H-2A workers 

are going to go up. He said he always paid his workers a little more than the state minimum 

wage. However, the H-2A minimum wage is too high, and he does not know how that number is 

determined. 

3.4.8 Round 4 Recommendations:
31

1. Do not ask respondents to report piece rates and base wage rates paid. Instead, ask 

respondents to report the total base wages paid and the total incentive/overtime wages 

paid. 

Resolution: Accepted

2. Ask gross wages before asking about base wages and incentive/overtime wages. 

Resolution: Accepted

3. Provide instructions for selecting worker codes when more than one worker code is 

applicable. 

Resolution: Denied. The Labor Team decided to revisit this in the future. 

4. Clarify the instructions regarding workers on paid leave.

Resolution: Accepted. 

3.5 Round 5

In Round 5, minor changes were made to the include statements for Question 1 and 4 in Sections 

1 and 2. A parenthetical phrase was added to the instruction to include workers on paid leave, 

indicating that paid leave included both sick leave and vacation. The piece rate screener and 

piece rate worker table were removed. The instructions for the worker table were changed again. 

Respondents in this round were instructed to report workers who fall under the same worker 

code on a single line. Definitions for base wages and incentive pay were added. The questions in 

the worker table were also changed and reordered. Respondents were now asked to report the 

worker codes, number of paid workers that week, total gross wages paid that week, total base 

wages paid that week, and finally, the total incentive and overtime wages paid that week (Figure 

9). This draft was tested on one respondent. He did not use records when responding but said he 

normally would when completing the survey. 

3.5.1 Question 1 – Screener

This question was not probed on. 

3.5.2 Question 2 – Number of Workers

The respondent was unsure what types of workers should be included as “agricultural workers.” 

He asked, “When you’re saying agricultural, are you defining it in which manner? All of 

agriculture or are you trying to break it down—Forestry is considered agriculture under the IRS.” 

The interviewer encouraged him to answer the question however he interpreted it. He said, “I 

would say it (forestry) is (agricultural). It falls under USDA. But if you’re using it for 

immigration measures, H-2A, forestry and reforestation is not considered agricultural for 
32

payroll.” He said he would consider the Internal Revenue Service definition and report these 

workers as on his payroll, which was 1,075 workers. 

3.5.3 Question 3 – 150-Day Question

This question was not probed on. 

3.5.4 Question 4 – Worker Table

Figure 9. Round 5 Worker Table

Worker Code

The respondent understood to look on page 5 for the worker codes. He said he would select 

codes 11, 12, 13, 14, 20, 21, 31, and 41 and that he would list all the workers who fell under each 

code on a single line. He did have some workers under the same code who were paid different 

wages. He said this was not a problem since the question was asking for totals. 

Number of Paid Workers that Week

This question was not probed on. 

Total Gross Wages Paid That Week
33

The respondent only has piece rate workers during the summer months. He said if the survey 

asked for a week in the summer, the gross wages would equal the base wages paid plus 

incentives. He pays his workers $14.12 an hour plus a piece rate. 

Total Base Wages Paid That Week

He understood that he should only report the base wages paid in this column. He interpreted base 

wages as the minimum amount workers are guaranteed. He pays his workers $14.12 an hour in 

base wages. They earn a piece rate bonus on top of that. He understood to put this piece rate pay 

in the incentive column. 

Total Incentive and Overtime Wages Paid that Week

The respondent does not pay overtime wages, but he does pay piece rate pay as a bonus during 

the summer months. The piece rate is paid per lug or bin and is different based on the commodity 

and variety they are picking. For example, he pays $2.50 a lug for red cherries, $3 a lug for 

yellow cherries, $25 a bin for pink lady apples, and $22 a bin for honey crisp apples. 

The interviewer showed the respondent the previous draft of the survey, which asked for the 

piece rates paid. He said this would be extremely burdensome to report given the number of 

different piece rates he pays. He said for apples alone he pays eight different piece rates. He said 

the way the previous survey asked about piece rate was “why most surveys don’t get returned... 

This is what we do not want to do. You know what happens with these? They throw them away.” 

He said the previous survey draft was very similar to the Washington State Survey and people do 

not respond to that survey because “they don’t have time and they don’t want to break it down 

like that.” 

He then gave the following example of a typical day on his farm as an example for how difficult 

it would be to report piece rates paid. At 4:30 a.m., the workers start picking cherries and they 

pick until around 11 a.m. because they cannot pick once the temperature is over 72 degrees. 

They are paid different piece rates for red and yellow cherries. At 11 a.m., the workers go home 

for lunch. After lunch, they come back and work two hours pruning or thinning. One team may 

go prune and the other will go and thin. They are paid different piece rates for pruning and 

thinning, and both these rates are different from the piece rates for picking cherries. They may 

then spend another hour tying trees and for this, they are paid by the hour. To fill out the 

previous draft of the survey, he would have to report one worker making three different wages 

three times for the same week because he is doing three different jobs in one day. He said, the 

previous draft of the survey is “great for statistics to break it down but no one will report it.” He 

said, “Leave it up to the states to get this detailed.” He said he has 14 varieties of apples and 11 

varieties of cherries and Washington state requests they report workers by all these different 

varieties. He has one person dedicated to responding to the Washington State Survey and it takes 

that person a full week to complete the survey. He said the Round 5 draft of the Agricultural 

Labor survey was “simple, easy, and straightforward... The way it’s drafted right now, I could 

fill it out on the hood of my car and could do it from memory.” 

3.5.5 Section 3, Question 1 Peak Number of Workers
34

This question was not probed on. 

3.5.6 Section 3, Question 2 H-2A Workers

He answered yes to this question and said he hired over 2,000 H-2A workers a year. He 

wondered why he was not asked about these workers on the survey. He suggested adding a code 

to the worker codes for federal H-2A workers. That way statistics could be produced on how 

many H-2A workers are hired and what they are paid, and comparisons could be made to 

domestic workers. 

4. CONCLUSION AND FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS

It is very difficult for respondents to report piece rates and wage rates on the survey given the

complexity of work on U.S. farms and the variety of pay schemes used by farmers. Respondents 

are better able to provide total gross and base wages paid. As found in previous cognitive testing 

studies, respondents in this testing had difficulty selecting the appropriate worker codes for their 

workers. They had difficulty locating the worker codes, and once found, had difficulty selecting 

a single code when multiple codes could apply. Additionally, respondents often wanted to report 

the type of work their workers were currently doing as opposed to what the type of work they 

were hired to do. Respondents in this testing also had difficulty comprehending terms used on 

this survey, including base wages, incentives, agricultural labor, contract and custom workers, 

and value-added workers. Finally, formatting issues such as the placement of the worker codes, 

include/exclude statements, dot leaders, item codes, and page numbers caused respondents 

additional burden. Based on these findings, we recommend the following:

1. Ask respondents to report total base wages paid, total gross wages paid, and total 

incentive/overtime wages paid by worker group. 

Resolution: Accepted.

2. Provide examples in the worker table to show how workers’ hours and wages should be 

reported. 

Resolution: Accepted.

3. Provide definitions for the following terms: base wages, incentives, agricultural workers, 

contract and custom workers, and value-added workers. 

Resolution: A definition for base wages and incentive pay was added to the April 

2018 survey. Definitions for agricultural workers, contract and custom workers and 

value-added workers were denied. 

4. Make formatting of the survey user-friendly. This includes, single banking include and 

exclude statements, placing dot leaders following the last exclude statement, making page 

numbers large and centered on the top of the page, removing items codes from response 
35

boxes, spanning sections 1 and 2 over two pages, and placing the worker codes between

Sections 1 and 2. 

Resolution: Include and exclude statements were single banked, Sections 1 and 2 

were spanned across two pages, and the worker codes were placed between Sections 

1 and 2. The rest of the recommendations were denied. 

5. REFERENCES

Strauss, A. C., and Corbin, J. (1990), Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory 

Procedures and Techniques, Newbury Park: Sage Publications. 

Willis, G. B. (2005), Cognitive Interviewing: A Tool for Improving Questionnaire Design, 

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 
36

APPENDIX A: Questionnaire Used during Round 1
 

 

DRAFT OPERATOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR SURVEY – October 2017

OMB No. 0535-xxxx 

Approval Expires: xx/xx/xxxx

Project Code: 528 QID: 150028 

SMetaKey: 3275

Version: 99

DRAFT AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2017

United States

Department of

Agriculture

NATIONAL

AGRICULTURAL

STATISTICS

SERVICE

USDA/NASS

National Operations Division

9700 Page Avenue, Suite 400

St. Louis, MO 63132-1547

Phone: 1-888-424-7828

Fax: 1-855-415-3687

E-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov

The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential and any person who willfully discloses ANY 

identifiable information about you or your operation is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both. This survey is conducted in accordance with the Confidential 

Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347 and other applicable Federal laws. For more information on how we protect your 

information please visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality. Response to this survey is voluntary.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number is 0535-0109. The time required to complete this information 

collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Attempted Contacts

Date Time Notes

State POID Tract Subtr.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

1. [Verify name and mailing address of this operation. Make any corrections 

necessary (including the correct operation name) on the label and continue.] [Check if name label verified] 

2. Since June 1, 2017, have you or will you (name on label)--

a. grow any crops or cut hay?

[Include grains, row crops, oilseeds, fruits, nuts, vegetables (including strawberries and 

melon crops), nursery and greenhouse, Christmas trees, and other specialty crops.]

1 Yes - [Go to item 3.] 3 No - [Continue.]

b. own or raise any livestock, poultry, bees or aquaculture?

[Include livestock and poultry owned, and any being raised under contract for someone else.]

1 Yes - [Go to item 3.] 3 No - [Continue.]

c. sell any agricultural products?

1 Yes - [Go to item 3.] 3 No - [Continue.]

d. receive government agricultural payments?

[Exclude government payments received as a landlord.]

1 Yes - [Go to item 3.] 3 No - [Continue.]

e. have more than 19 acres of idle cropland or more than

99 acres of pastureland?

1 Yes - [Go to item 3.] 3 No - [Go to Section 5, page 11, item 1.]
 -2- 

 

OFFICE USE

3. Are the day-to-day decisions for this operation made by one individual,

a hired manager, or partners? [Check one]

R. UNIT

9921

1 One individual – [Go to page 4]

8 A hired manager – [Go to page 4]

2 Partners – How many partners make the day-to-day decisions?

SUB.

9941

Number JUNE 1

[Enter number of partners, including operator, and then continue.]. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 

9930

4. Please identify the other person(s) in this partnership, then go to page 4.

(Verify partners’ names and make necessary corrections if names have already been entered.)

Name: Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______ ) - ______________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No

Name: __________________________________________ Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______) - _____________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No

For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only

Stratum Stratum Stratum Stratum

9922 9923 9927 9928

Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op.

9924 9924 9924 9924
 -3- 

 

Skip to next page

Or

Space for Notes and Comments
 -4- 

 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for OCTOBER 

October 2017

S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of October 8

th through October 14th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay 

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the 

week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” 

workers

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 2.] 

2 Don’t Know [Go to Section 2.]

2. For the paid workers, record the number of workers, wages paid, hours worked, and the gross wages paid the week of 

October 8

th through October 14th

. 

 Record each worker only once

 Separate the workers by the main type of work they were hired to do based on the groups outlined on page 4 and 

by the base wage paid per hour

 Report only one week of wages for the reference week

Worker Code

(select from list on 

page 4)

Number 

of Paid 

Workers

Base Wage Paid Per Hour

(excluding incentive pay)

(Dollars per Hour)

Total 

Hours

Worked

Total Gross Wages That Week

(including incentive pay and 

overtime pay)

(Dollars)

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

3.TOTAL PAID 

WORKERS

660

4. In 2017, how many of these TOTAL PAID WORKERS will be paid by this operation----

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

a. for 150 days or more of work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

700

b. for 149 days or less of work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

701

Sum MUST equal TOTAL PAID WORKERS (item 3 above). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOTAL

702

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

4

600
 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS ×

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom 

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
 

 

Section 2 - PAID WORKERS for JULY 

July 2017

S M T W Th F S

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of July 9

th through July 15th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay 

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for 

the week)



EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” 

workers

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 3.] 

2 Don’t Know - [Go to Section 3.]

2. For the paid workers, record the number of workers, wages paid, hours worked, and the gross wages paid the week of 

July 9

th through July 15th

. 

 Record each worker only once

 Separate the workers by the main type of work they were hired to do based on the groups outlined on page 6 and 

by the base wage paid per hour

 Report only one week of wages for the reference week

Worker Code

(select from list on 

page 6)

Number 

of Paid 

Workers

Base Wage Paid Per Hour

(excluding incentive pay)

(Dollars per Hour)

Total 

Hours

Worked

Total Gross Wages That Week

(including incentive pay and 

overtime pay)

(Dollars)

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

611 612 xxx 613 614

3.TOTAL PAID 

WORKERS

660

4. In 2017, how many of these TOTAL PAID WORKERS will be paid by this operation

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

a. for 150 days or more of work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

700

b. for 149 days or less of work?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

701

Sum MUST equal TOTAL PAID WORKERS (item 3 above). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TOTAL 702

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

1

600
 

 

Section 3 - VALUE of SALES 

1. Please classify this operation in terms of total gross value of sales

[Be sure sales represent only 2016 and earlier years’ production.]

Considering:  Sales of all crops, livestock, poultry, and livestock products (milk, eggs, etc.) sold in 2016.

 The value of product removed for all crops, livestock, and poultry produced under contract 

in 2016.

 Sales of all miscellaneous agricultural products in 2016.

 All government agricultural payments received in 2016.

 Landlord’s share of government payments and crops sold in 2016.

a. What code represents the total gross value of sales, including government agricultural payments?

Total Value GVS Code

‘None’ during 2016. . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

1 ---

1,000 ---

2,500 ---

5,000 ---

10,000 ---

25,000 ---

50,000 ---

100,000 ---

250,000 ---

500,000 ---

1,000,000 ---

2,500,000 ---

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

999

2,499

4,999

9,999

24,999

49,999

99,999

249,999

499,999

999,999

2,499,999

4,999,999

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

1

2

3

4

5 

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 

GVS Code

550

$ 5,000,000 and over ............. 13

b. Does the GVS (gross value of sales) Code in Code Box 550 equal ‘1’ or ‘99’?

 Yes - [Continue.] No - [Go to page 10, item 2.]

c. Record all 2017 crops, land uses, and livestock or poultry now on the total acres operated, 

then go to page 10, item 2.

Land Use ACRES

Field Crops Intended For 

Harvest ACRES Other Crops ACRES

CRP/WRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cut Christmas Trees 

Idle Cropland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

All Fallow Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

____________________ __________________ __________________

Livestock NUMBER

Government Payments

WHOLE

DOLLARS Fruits/Nuts ACRES Cattle – Dairy . . . . . . . 

CRP/WRP Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cattle – Other . . . . . . . 

Other Gov’t Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Chickens . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Hogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pasture/Rangeland

Cropland Used Only For Pasture 

ACRES

__________________ Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Mules/Burros . . . . . . . 

__________________

Permanent Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . Vegetables/Melons ACRES __________________

Woodland Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

__________________ __________________

Aquaculture NUMBER __________________ Office Use

Acres of Ponds in Use . . . . . . . . TOTAL POINTS

Foodsize/Stockers . . . . . . . . . . . . Berries ACRES 552

Fingerlings/Broodfish . . . . . . . . . __________________ PASTURE POINTS

Trout Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ 554
 

 

Section 3 - VALUE of SALES (continued)

2. Of the farm or ranch income reported, which of these categories represents the largest

portion of the gross income from this operation? 

`

 1 - Grains, Oilseeds, Dry Beans, and Dry Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

(corn, flaxseed, grain silage and forage, grains and oilseeds, popcorn, rice,

small grains, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, straw, etc.)

 2 - Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 3 - Cotton and Cottonseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

 4 - Vegetables, Melons, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

(beets, cabbage, cantaloupes, pumpkins, sweet corn,

tomatoes, watermelons, vegetable seeds, etc.)

 5 - Fruit, Tree Nuts and Berries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

(almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, grapes, hazelnuts, kiwifruit,

oranges, pears, pecans, strawberries, walnuts, etc.)

 6 - Nursery, Greenhouse, Floriculture and Sod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

(bedding plants, bulbs, cut flowers, flower seeds, foliage plants,

mushrooms, nursery potted plants, shrubbery, sod, etc.)

 7 - Cut Christmas Trees and Short Rotation Woody Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

FARM TYPE 

CODE

 8 - Other Crops and Hay, CRP and Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 551

(grass seed, hay and grass silage, hops, maple syrup, mint,

peanuts, sugarcane, sugarbeets, CRP, etc.)

 9 - Hogs and Pigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

10 - Milk and Other Dairy Products from Cows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

11 - Cattle and Calves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

(beef and dairy cattle for breeding stock, fed cattle, beef and dairy cull animals,

stockers and feeders, veal calves, etc.)

12 - Sheep, Goats, and their Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(wool, mohair, milk and cheese)

13 - Horses, Ponies, and Mules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

(burros and donkeys) 13

14 - Poultry and Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(broilers, chickens, turkeys, ducks, eggs, emus, geese, hatchlings,

ostriches, pigeons, pheasants, quail, poultry products, etc.)

15 - Aquaculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(catfish, trout, ornamental and other fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.)

16 - Other Animals and Other Animal Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

(bees, honey, rabbits, fur-bearing animals, semen, manure, 

other animal specialties, etc.)
 

 

Section 4 - PAID WORKERS IN 2017 

Largest Number of 

Workers in 2017

1. During 2017, what was or will be the largest number of hired workers, 

including paid family members, on the payroll on any one day?......................

None

...........................278.........3

277

2. During 2017, did or will this operation have any H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers on the payroll?

1 Yes 

3 No

2 Don’t Know

279
 -11- 

 

Section 5 - CHANGE IN OPERATOR

Complete this section only if you answered “NO” for all questions in item 2 on the face page. 

1. Has the operation named on the label been sold, rented or turned over to someone else?

1 Yes - [Go to item 2] 3 No - [Continue → ] a. Will the land be used for any agricultural purpose by you 

(the operator), or anyone else in the next year (including 

growing crops or raising livestock)?

1 Yes 3 No 2 Don’t Know

Regardless of answer to above, write a note to explain 

the situation, then go to back page, item 1.

2. Please provide the following information for the operation that has taken over the land:

Operation Name: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operator Name: ________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Phone: (________) - _________________________

City: ______________________________________________________ State: __________ ZIP: _________

3. Was this new operation, reported in item 2, in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.]

4. Is this new operation managed?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.] 

5. Were any individuals associated with the new operation, reported in item 2 above, operating land 

individually before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Go to back page, item 1.]
 -12- 

 

Section 6 - CONCLUSION

1. Do you (the operator named on the label) make any day - to - day decisions for ANOTHER farm or ranch?

a. 1 Yes - What is the name of this other 

 operation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operation Name: ______________________________________

3 No - [Go to item 2 below.] Address: ________________________________________

City: __________________ State:____ ZIP: ____

Phone: (______) __________________

[ENUMERATOR NOTE: IF ADDITIONAL OPERATION IS INDIVIDUAL OR PARTNERSHIP, complete a separate 

questionnaire for the additional operation.]

b. Was this additional operation in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes – [Continue.] 3 No – [Continue.]

COMMENTS:

2. SURVEY RESULTS: To receive the complete results of this survey on the release date, go to 

www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/

Would you rather have a brief summary mailed to you at a later date? 1 Yes 3 No

9990

Respondent 

Name:

9911

Phone: (____) _____ ________

9910 MM DD YY

Date: __ __ __ __ __ __

OFFICE USE ONLY

Response Respondent Mode Enum. Eval. Change Office Use for POID

1-Comp

2-R

3-Inac

4-Office Hold

5-R – Est

6-Inac – Est

7-Off Hold – Est

9901 1-Op/Mgr

2-Sp

3-Acct/Bkpr

4-Partner

9-Oth

9902 1-PASI (Mail)

2-PATI (Tel)

3-PAPI (Faceto-Face)

6-e-mail

7-Fax

19-Other

9903 9998 9900 9985 9989

 __ __ __ - __ __ __ - __ __ __

Optional Use

9907 9908 9906 9916

S/E Name
49

APPENDIX B: Questionnaire Used during Round 2
 

 

DRAFT OPERATOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR SURVEY – April 2018

OMB No. 0535-xxxx 

Approval Expires: xx/xx/xxxx

Project Code: 528 QID: 150028 

SMetaKey: 3275

Version: 99

DRAFT FROM COGNITIVE TESTING, FEBRUARY 2, 2018

VERSION2

United States

Department of

Agriculture

NATIONAL

AGRICULTURAL

STATISTICS

SERVICE

USDA/NASS

National Operations Division

9700 Page Avenue, Suite 400

St. Louis, MO 63132-1547

Phone: 1-888-424-7828

Fax: 1-855-415-3687

E-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov

The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential and any person who willfully discloses ANY 

identifiable information about you or your operation is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both. This survey is conducted in accordance with the Confidential 

Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347 and other applicable Federal laws. For more information on how we protect your 

information please visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality. Response to this survey is voluntary.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number is 0535-0109. The time required to complete this information 

collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Attempted Contacts

Date Time Notes

State POID Tract Subtr.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

1. [Verify name and mailing address of this operation. Make any corrections 

necessary (including the correct operation name) on the label and continue.] [Check if name label verified] 

2. Since June 1, 2017, have you or will you (name on label)--

a. grow any crops or cut hay?

[Include grains, row crops, oilseeds, fruits, nuts, vegetables (including strawberries and 

melon crops), nursery and greenhouse, Christmas trees, and other specialty crops.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

b. own or raise any livestock, poultry, bees or aquaculture?

[Include livestock and poultry owned, and any being raised under contract for someone else.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

c. sell any agricultural products?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

d. receive government agricultural payments?

[Exclude government payments received as a landlord.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

e. have more than 19 acres of idle cropland or more than

99 acres of pastureland?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Go to Section 6, page 12, item 1.]
Page 2

 

Sec OFFICE USE

3. Are the day-to-day decisions for this operation made by one individual,

a hired manager, or partners? [Check one]

R. UNIT

9921

1 One individual – [Go to page 3]

8 A hired manager – [Go to page 3]

2 Partners – How many partners make the day-to-day decisions?

SUB.

9941

Number JUNE 1

[Enter number of partners, including operator, and then continue.]. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 

9930

For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only

Stratum Stratum Stratum Stratum

9922 9923 9927 9928

Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op.

9924 9924 9924 9924

4. Please identify the other person(s) in this partnership, then go to page 3.

(Verify partners’ names and make necessary corrections if names have already been entered.)

Name: Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______ ) - ______________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No

Name: __________________________________________ Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______) - _____________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No
Page 3

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY 

January 2018

S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 3.] 

2 Don’t Know [Go to Section 3.]

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7

th through January 13th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. How many workers did you have on payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7

th

through January 13

th ?

TOTAL NUMBER

660

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

3. In 2018, how many of these total paid workers for that week will be paid by this operation for 150 

days or more of work?

700

600
Page 4

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY (continued)

4. Fill out the table below for the workers paid to do agricultural work the week of January 7

th through January 13th

. Report 

workers who fall under the same worker code and make the same base wage on a single line.

 Record each worker only once

 Report only one week of wages for the reference week

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

Worker Code

(select from list on 

page 5)

Total Base Wages Paid 

(excluding incentive pay)

(Dollars)

Number 

of Paid 

Workers

Total 

Hours

Worked

Total Gross Wages That Week

(including incentive pay and 

overtime pay)

(Dollars)

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx 612 613 614

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

1
Page 5

 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom 

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
Page 6

 

1 Yes 

3 No

 2 Don’t Know

Section 3 - PAID WORKERS IN 2017 

Largest Number of 

Workers in 2017

1. During 2017, what was the largest number of hired workers on the payroll on 

any one day?......................

None

...........................278.........3

277

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. During 2017, did this operation have any H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers on the payroll?

 The H2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who antiticipate a shortage of 

domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign wokers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or 

services of a temporary or seasonal nature. 

demos

279
Page 7

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES 

1. Please classify this operation in terms of total gross value of sales

[Be sure sales represent only 2017 and earlier years’ production.]

Considering:  Sales of all crops, livestock, poultry, and livestock products (milk, eggs, etc.) sold in 2017.

 The value of product removed for all crops, livestock, and poultry produced under contract 

in 2017.

 Sales of all miscellaneous agricultural products in 2017.

 All government agricultural payments received in 2017.

 Landlord’s share of government payments and crops sold in 2017.

a. What code represents the total gross value of sales, including government agricultural payments?

Total Value GVS Code

‘None’ during 2017. . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

1 ---

1,000 ---

2,500 ---

5,000 ---

10,000 ---

25,000 ---

50,000 ---

100,000 ---

250,000 ---

500,000 ---

1,000,000 ---

2,500,000 ---

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

999

2,499

4,999

9,999

24,999

49,999

99,999

249,999

499,999

999,999

2,499,999

4,999,999

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

1

2

3

4

5 

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 

GVS Code

550

$ 5,000,000 and over ............. 13

b. Does the GVS (gross value of sales) Code in Code Box 550 equal ‘1’ or ‘99’?

 Yes - [Continue.] No - [Go to page 10, item 2.]

c. Record all 2018 crops, land uses, and livestock or poultry now on the total acres operated, 

then go to page 10, item 2.

Land Use ACRES

Field Crops Intended For 

Harvest ACRES Other Crops ACRES

CRP/WRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cut Christmas Trees 

Idle Cropland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

All Fallow Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

____________________ __________________ __________________

Livestock NUMBER

Government Payments

WHOLE

DOLLARS Fruits/Nuts ACRES Cattle – Dairy . . . . . . . 

CRP/WRP Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cattle – Other . . . . . . . 

Other Gov’t Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Chickens . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Hogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pasture/Rangeland

Cropland Used Only For Pasture 

ACRES

__________________ Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Mules/Burros . . . . . . . 

__________________

Permanent Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . Vegetables/Melons ACRES __________________

Woodland Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

__________________ __________________

Aquaculture NUMBER __________________ Office Use

Acres of Ponds in Use . . . . . . . . TOTAL POINTS

Foodsize/Stockers . . . . . . . . . . . . Berries ACRES 552

Fingerlings/Broodfish . . . . . . . . . __________________ PASTURE POINTS

Trout Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ 554
Page 8

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES (continued)

2. Of the farm or ranch income reported, which of these categories represents the largest

portion of the gross income from this operation? 

`

 1 - Grains, Oilseeds, Dry Beans, and Dry Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

(corn, flaxseed, grain silage and forage, grains and oilseeds, popcorn, rice,

small grains, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, straw, etc.)

 2 - Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 3 - Cotton and Cottonseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

 4 - Vegetables, Melons, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

(beets, cabbage, cantaloupes, pumpkins, sweet corn,

tomatoes, watermelons, vegetable seeds, etc.)

 5 - Fruit, Tree Nuts and Berries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

(almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, grapes, hazelnuts, kiwifruit,

oranges, pears, pecans, strawberries, walnuts, etc.)

 6 - Nursery, Greenhouse, Floriculture and Sod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

(bedding plants, bulbs, cut flowers, flower seeds, foliage plants,

mushrooms, nursery potted plants, shrubbery, sod, etc.)

 7 - Cut Christmas Trees and Short Rotation Woody Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

FARM TYPE 

CODE

 8 - Other Crops and Hay, CRP and Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 551

(grass seed, hay and grass silage, hops, maple syrup, mint,

peanuts, sugarcane, sugarbeets, CRP, etc.)

 9 - Hogs and Pigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

10 - Milk and Other Dairy Products from Cows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

11 - Cattle and Calves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

(beef and dairy cattle for breeding stock, fed cattle, beef and dairy cull animals,

stockers and feeders, veal calves, etc.)

12 - Sheep, Goats, and their Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(wool, mohair, milk and cheese)

13 - Horses, Ponies, and Mules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

(burros and donkeys) 13

14 - Poultry and Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(broilers, chickens, turkeys, ducks, eggs, emus, geese, hatchlings,

ostriches, pigeons, pheasants, quail, poultry products, etc.)

15 - Aquaculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(catfish, trout, ornamental and other fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.)

16 - Other Animals and Other Animal Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

(bees, honey, rabbits, fur-bearing animals, semen, manure, 

other animal specialties, etc.)
Page 9

 

Section 5 - CHANGE IN OPERATOR

Complete this section only if you answered “NO” for all questions in item 2 on the face page. 

1. Has the operation named on the label been sold, rented or turned over to someone else?

1 Yes - [Go to item 2] 3 No - [Continue → ] a. Will the land be used for any agricultural purpose by you 

(the operator), or anyone else in the next year (including 

growing crops or raising livestock)?

1 Yes 3 No 2 Don’t Know

Regardless of answer to above, write a note to explain 

the situation, then go to back page, item 1.

2. Please provide the following information for the operation that has taken over the land:

Operation Name: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operator Name: ________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Phone: (________) - _________________________

City: ______________________________________________________ State: __________ ZIP: _________

3. Was this new operation, reported in item 2, in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.]

4. Is this new operation managed?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.] 

5. Were any individuals associated with the new operation, reported in item 2 above, operating land 

individually before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Go to back page, item 1.]
Page 10

 

Section 6 - CONCLUSION

1. Do you (the operator named on the label) make any day - to - day decisions for ANOTHER farm or ranch?

a. 1 Yes - What is the name of this other 

 operation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operation Name: ______________________________________

3 No - [Go to item 2 below.] Address: ________________________________________

City: __________________ State:____ ZIP: ____

Phone: (______) __________________

[ENUMERATOR NOTE: IF ADDITIONAL OPERATION IS INDIVIDUAL OR PARTNERSHIP, complete a separate 

questionnaire for the additional operation.]

b. Was this additional operation in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes – [Continue.] 3 No – [Continue.]

COMMENTS:

2. SURVEY RESULTS: To receive the complete results of this survey on the release date, go to 

www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/

Would you rather have a brief summary mailed to you at a later date? 1 Yes 3 No

9990

Respondent 

Name:

9911

Phone: (____) _____ ________

9910 MM DD YY

Date: __ __ __ __ __ __

OFFICE USE ONLY

Response Respondent Mode Enum. Eval. Change Office Use for POID

1-Comp

2-R

3-Inac

4-Office Hold

5-R – Est

6-Inac – Est

7-Off Hold – Est

9901 1-Op/Mgr

2-Sp

3-Acct/Bkpr

4-Partner

9-Oth

9902 1-PASI (Mail)

2-PATI (Tel)

3-PAPI (Faceto-Face)

6-e-mail

7-Fax

19-Other

9903 9998 9900 9985 9989

 __ __ __ - __ __ __ - __ __ __

Optional Use

9907 9908 9906 9916

S/E Name
60

APPENDIX C: Questionnaire Used during Round 3
 

 

DRAFT OPERATOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR SURVEY – April 2018

OMB No. 0535-xxxx 

Approval Expires: xx/xx/xxxx

Project Code: 528 QID: 150028 

SMetaKey: 3275

Version: 99

DRAFT FROM COGNITIVE TESTING, FEBRUARY 3, 2018

ROUND 3

United States

Department of

Agriculture

NATIONAL

AGRICULTURAL

STATISTICS

SERVICE

USDA/NASS

National Operations Division

9700 Page Avenue, Suite 400

St. Louis, MO 63132-1547

Phone: 1-888-424-7828

Fax: 1-855-415-3687

E-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov

The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential and any person who willfully discloses ANY 

identifiable information about you or your operation is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both. This survey is conducted in accordance with the Confidential 

Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347 and other applicable Federal laws. For more information on how we protect your 

information please visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality. Response to this survey is voluntary.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number is 0535-0109. The time required to complete this information 

collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Attempted Contacts

Date Time Notes

State POID Tract Subtr.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

1. [Verify name and mailing address of this operation. Make any corrections 

necessary (including the correct operation name) on the label and continue.] [Check if name label verified] 

2. Since June 1, 2017, have you or will you (name on label)--

a. grow any crops or cut hay?

[Include grains, row crops, oilseeds, fruits, nuts, vegetables (including strawberries and 

melon crops), nursery and greenhouse, Christmas trees, and other specialty crops.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

b. own or raise any livestock, poultry, bees or aquaculture?

[Include livestock and poultry owned, and any being raised under contract for someone else.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

c. sell any agricultural products?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

d. receive government agricultural payments?

[Exclude government payments received as a landlord.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

e. have more than 19 acres of idle cropland or more than

99 acres of pastureland?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Go to Section 6, page 12, item 1.]
Page 2

 

Sec OFFICE USE

3. Are the day-to-day decisions for this operation made by one individual,

a hired manager, or partners? [Check one]

R. UNIT

9921

1 One individual – [Go to page 3]

8 A hired manager – [Go to page 3]

2 Partners – How many partners make the day-to-day decisions?

SUB.

9941

Number JUNE 1

[Enter number of partners, including operator, and then continue.]. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 

9930

For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only

Stratum Stratum Stratum Stratum

9922 9923 9927 9928

Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op.

9924 9924 9924 9924

4. Please identify the other person(s) in this partnership, then go to page 3.

(Verify partners’ names and make necessary corrections if names have already been entered.)

Name: Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______ ) - ______________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No

Name: __________________________________________ Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______) - _____________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No
Page 3

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY 

January 2018

S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 3.] 

2 Don’t Know [Go to Section 3.]

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7

th through January 13th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. How many workers did you have on payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7

th

through January 13

th ?

TOTAL NUMBER

660

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

3. In 2018, how many of these total paid workers for that week will be paid by this operation for 150 

days or more of work?

700

600
Page 4

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY (continued)

4. Fill out the table below for the workers paid to do agricultural work the week of January 7

th through January 13th

. Report 

workers who fall under the same worker code and make the same base wage on a single line.

 Record each worker only once

 Report only one week of wages for the reference week

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

Worker Code

(select from list on page 5)

Base Wages Paid 

(excluding incentive pay)

Number 

of Paid 

Workers

Total 

Hours

Worked

Total Gross Wages That Week

(including incentive pay and 

overtime pay)

Dollars per... (Dollars)

Enter Unit:

- Hour

- Week

- Year

- Piece

Example: 12 xxx $13 Xxx Hour 612 4 613 200 614 $2,600

Example: 12 xxx $11 xxx Hour 612 7 613 350 614 $3,850

Example: 32 xxx $39,000 xxx Year 612 1 613 50 614 $41,000

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

1
Page 5

 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom 

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
Page 6

 
Page 7

 

1 Yes 

3 No

 2 Don’t Know

Section 3 - PAID WORKERS IN 2017 

Largest Number of 

Workers in 2017

1. During 2017, what was the largest number of hired workers on the payroll on 

any one day?......................

None

...........................278.........3

277

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. During 2017, did this operation have any H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers on the payroll?

 The H2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who antiticipate a shortage of 

domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign wokers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or 

services of a temporary or seasonal nature. 

demos

279
Page 8

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES 

1. Please classify this operation in terms of total gross value of sales

[Be sure sales represent only 2017 and earlier years’ production.]

Considering:  Sales of all crops, livestock, poultry, and livestock products (milk, eggs, etc.) sold in 2017.

 The value of product removed for all crops, livestock, and poultry produced under contract 

in 2017.

 Sales of all miscellaneous agricultural products in 2017.

 All government agricultural payments received in 2017.

 Landlord’s share of government payments and crops sold in 2017.

a. What code represents the total gross value of sales, including government agricultural payments?

Total Value GVS Code

‘None’ during 2017. . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

1 ---

1,000 ---

2,500 ---

5,000 ---

10,000 ---

25,000 ---

50,000 ---

100,000 ---

250,000 ---

500,000 ---

1,000,000 ---

2,500,000 ---

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

999

2,499

4,999

9,999

24,999

49,999

99,999

249,999

499,999

999,999

2,499,999

4,999,999

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

1

2

3

4

5 

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 

GVS Code

550

$ 5,000,000 and over ............. 13

b. Does the GVS (gross value of sales) Code in Code Box 550 equal ‘1’ or ‘99’?

 Yes - [Continue.] No - [Go to page 10, item 2.]

c. Record all 2018 crops, land uses, and livestock or poultry now on the total acres operated, 

then go to page 10, item 2.

Land Use ACRES

Field Crops Intended For 

Harvest ACRES Other Crops ACRES

CRP/WRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cut Christmas Trees 

Idle Cropland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

All Fallow Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

____________________ __________________ __________________

Livestock NUMBER

Government Payments

WHOLE

DOLLARS Fruits/Nuts ACRES Cattle – Dairy . . . . . . . 

CRP/WRP Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cattle – Other . . . . . . . 

Other Gov’t Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Chickens . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Hogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pasture/Rangeland

Cropland Used Only For Pasture 

ACRES

__________________ Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Mules/Burros . . . . . . . 

__________________

Permanent Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . Vegetables/Melons ACRES __________________

Woodland Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

__________________ __________________

Aquaculture NUMBER __________________ Office Use

Acres of Ponds in Use . . . . . . . . TOTAL POINTS

Foodsize/Stockers . . . . . . . . . . . . Berries ACRES 552

Fingerlings/Broodfish . . . . . . . . . __________________ PASTURE POINTS

Trout Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ 554
Page 9

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES (continued)

2. Of the farm or ranch income reported, which of these categories represents the largest

portion of the gross income from this operation? 

`

 1 - Grains, Oilseeds, Dry Beans, and Dry Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

(corn, flaxseed, grain silage and forage, grains and oilseeds, popcorn, rice,

small grains, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, straw, etc.)

 2 - Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 3 - Cotton and Cottonseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

 4 - Vegetables, Melons, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

(beets, cabbage, cantaloupes, pumpkins, sweet corn,

tomatoes, watermelons, vegetable seeds, etc.)

 5 - Fruit, Tree Nuts and Berries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

(almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, grapes, hazelnuts, kiwifruit,

oranges, pears, pecans, strawberries, walnuts, etc.)

 6 - Nursery, Greenhouse, Floriculture and Sod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

(bedding plants, bulbs, cut flowers, flower seeds, foliage plants,

mushrooms, nursery potted plants, shrubbery, sod, etc.)

 7 - Cut Christmas Trees and Short Rotation Woody Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

FARM TYPE 

CODE

 8 - Other Crops and Hay, CRP and Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 551

(grass seed, hay and grass silage, hops, maple syrup, mint,

peanuts, sugarcane, sugarbeets, CRP, etc.)

 9 - Hogs and Pigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

10 - Milk and Other Dairy Products from Cows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

11 - Cattle and Calves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

(beef and dairy cattle for breeding stock, fed cattle, beef and dairy cull animals,

stockers and feeders, veal calves, etc.)

12 - Sheep, Goats, and their Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(wool, mohair, milk and cheese)

13 - Horses, Ponies, and Mules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

(burros and donkeys) 13

14 - Poultry and Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(broilers, chickens, turkeys, ducks, eggs, emus, geese, hatchlings,

ostriches, pigeons, pheasants, quail, poultry products, etc.)

15 - Aquaculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(catfish, trout, ornamental and other fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.)

16 - Other Animals and Other Animal Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

(bees, honey, rabbits, fur-bearing animals, semen, manure, 

other animal specialties, etc.)
Page 10

 

Section 5 - CHANGE IN OPERATOR

Complete this section only if you answered “NO” for all questions in item 2 on the face page. 

1. Has the operation named on the label been sold, rented or turned over to someone else?

1 Yes - [Go to item 2] 3 No - [Continue → ] a. Will the land be used for any agricultural purpose by you 

(the operator), or anyone else in the next year (including 

growing crops or raising livestock)?

1 Yes 3 No 2 Don’t Know

Regardless of answer to above, write a note to explain 

the situation, then go to back page, item 1.

2. Please provide the following information for the operation that has taken over the land:

Operation Name: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operator Name: ________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Phone: (________) - _________________________

City: ______________________________________________________ State: __________ ZIP: _________

3. Was this new operation, reported in item 2, in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.]

4. Is this new operation managed?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.] 

5. Were any individuals associated with the new operation, reported in item 2 above, operating land 

individually before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Go to back page, item 1.]
Page 11

 

Section 6 - CONCLUSION

1. Do you (the operator named on the label) make any day - to - day decisions for ANOTHER farm or ranch?

a. 1 Yes - What is the name of this other 

 operation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operation Name: ______________________________________

3 No - [Go to item 2 below.] Address: ________________________________________

City: __________________ State:____ ZIP: ____

Phone: (______) __________________

[ENUMERATOR NOTE: IF ADDITIONAL OPERATION IS INDIVIDUAL OR PARTNERSHIP, complete a separate 

questionnaire for the additional operation.]

b. Was this additional operation in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes – [Continue.] 3 No – [Continue.]

COMMENTS:

2. SURVEY RESULTS: To receive the complete results of this survey on the release date, go to 

www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/

Would you rather have a brief summary mailed to you at a later date? 1 Yes 3 No

9990

Respondent 

Name:

9911

Phone: (____) _____ ________

9910 MM DD YY

Date: __ __ __ __ __ __

OFFICE USE ONLY

Response Respondent Mode Enum. Eval. Change Office Use for POID

1-Comp

2-R

3-Inac

4-Office Hold

5-R – Est

6-Inac – Est

7-Off Hold – Est

9901 1-Op/Mgr

2-Sp

3-Acct/Bkpr

4-Partner

9-Oth

9902 1-PASI (Mail)

2-PATI (Tel)

3-PAPI (Faceto-Face)

6-e-mail

7-Fax

19-Other

9903 9998 9900 9985 9989

 __ __ __ - __ __ __ - __ __ __

Optional Use

9907 9908 9906 9916

S/E Name
72

APPENDIX D: Questionnaire Used during Round 4
 

 

DRAFT OPERATOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR SURVEY – April 2018

OMB No. 0535-xxxx 

Approval Expires: xx/xx/xxxx

Project Code: 528 QID: 150028 

SMetaKey: 3275

Version: 99

DRAFT FEBRUARY 9, 2018

United States

Department of

Agriculture

NATIONAL

AGRICULTURAL

STATISTICS

SERVICE

.

USDA/NASS

National Operations Division

9700 Page Avenue, Suite 400

St. Louis, MO 63132-1547

Phone: 1-888-424-7828

Fax: 1-855-415-3687

E-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov

The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential and any person who willfully discloses ANY 

identifiable information about you or your operation is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both. This survey is conducted in accordance with the Confidential 

Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347 and other applicable Federal laws. For more information on how we protect your 

information please visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality. Response to this survey is voluntary.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number is 0535-0109. The time required to complete this information 

collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Attempted Contacts

Date Time Notes

State POID Tract Subtr.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

1. [Verify name and mailing address of this operation. Make any corrections 

necessary (including the correct operation name) on the label and continue.] [Check if name label verified] 

2. Since June 1, 2017, have you or will you (name on label)--

a. grow any crops or cut hay?

[Include grains, row crops, oilseeds, fruits, nuts, vegetables (including strawberries and 

melon crops), nursery and greenhouse, Christmas trees, and other specialty crops.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

b. own or raise any livestock, poultry, bees or aquaculture?

[Include livestock and poultry owned, and any being raised under contract for someone else.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

c. sell any agricultural products?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

d. receive government agricultural payments?

[Exclude government payments received as a landlord.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

e. have more than 19 acres of idle cropland or more than

99 acres of pastureland?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Go to Section 6, page 12, item 1.]
Page 2

 

Sec OFFICE USE

3. Are the day-to-day decisions for this operation made by one individual,

a hired manager, or partners? [Check one]

R. UNIT

9921

1 One individual – [Go to page 3]

8 A hired manager – [Go to page 3]

2 Partners – How many partners make the day-to-day decisions?

SUB.

9941

Number JUNE 1

[Enter number of partners, including operator, and then continue.]. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 

9930

For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only

Stratum Stratum Stratum Stratum

9922 9923 9927 9928

Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op.

9924 9924 9924 9924

4. Please identify the other person(s) in this partnership, then go to page 3.

(Verify partners’ names and make necessary corrections if names have already been entered.)

Name: Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______ ) - ______________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No

Name: __________________________________________ Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______) - _____________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No
Page 3

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY 

January 2018

S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 3.] 

2 Don’t Know [Go to Section 3.]

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7th through January 13th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. How many workers did you have on payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7th

through January 13th ? ..................................................................................................

TOTAL NUMBER

660

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

3. In 2018, how many of these total paid workers for that week will be paid by this operation for 150 days 

or more of work?........................................................................................................................................

700

600
Page 4

 

4. Did you pay any workers on a piece rate basis to do agricultural work the week of January 7th through January 13th? (for 

example, did you pay by pint, lug, bushel, etc.)? 

1 Yes – Continue

3 No - Go to question 6 on Page 6.

5. Fill out the table below for the workers you paid on a piece rate basis to do agricultural work the week of January 7th

through January 13th. Report workers who fall under the same worker code on a single line. If workers in the same 

worker category make different piece rate wages, please average those wages.

 Record each worker only once

 Report only one week of hours and wages for the reference week

 Incentive pay includes bonuses, performance pay, hazard pay, etc. 

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers paid on a piece rate basis 

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

 Workers paid by any method of pay besides piece rate (report these workers in question 6 on page 6)

Worker Code

(select from list on 

page 5)

Piece Rate Paid 

(excluding incentive and 

overtime pay)

Number of Workers

Paid on a Piece 

Rate Basis

That Week

Total Number of Units 

That Week 

Total 

Hours Worked 

on a Piece Rate 

Basis 

That Week

Total Gross Wages 

Paid on a Piece Rate 

Basis That Week

(including incentive 

pay and overtime 

pay)

(Dollars)

Amount per...

Enter Unit:

(bushel, 

pint, lug, 

box, gallon, 

etc.)

Example: 12 __ __ . 50 Bushel 4 612 3,200 613 200 614 $1,600

Example: 21 __ _1 . 00 Gallon 1 612 100 613 10 614 $100

611

__ _

 

612 613 614

611

__ __ . __ __

612 613 614

611

__ __ . __ __

612 613 614

611

__ __ . __ __

612 613 614

611

__ __ . __ __

612 613 614

611

__ __ . __ __

612 613 614

611

__ __ . __ __

612 613 614

xxx
Page 5

 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom 

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
Page 6

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY (continued)

6. Fill out the table below for the workers paid to do agricultural work the week of January 7th through January 13th. Report 

workers who fall under the same worker code on a single line. If workers in the same worker category make different 

base wages, please average those wages.

 Record each worker only once

 Report only one week of hours and wages for the reference week

 Incentive pay includes bonuses, performance pay, hazard pay, etc. 

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers, except those reported in question x, regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, 

monthly, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

 Workers who were reported in question 5

Worker Code

(select from list on page 5)

Base Wages Paid 

(excluding incentive and 

overtime pay)

Number 

of Paid Workers

That Week

Total 

Hours Worked

That Week

Total Gross Wages That Week

(including incentive pay and 

overtime pay)

Dollars per... (Dollars)

Enter Unit:

- Hour

- Week

-Month

- Year

-Other, please 

specify

Example: 12 xxx $13 Xxx Hour 612 4 613 200 614 $2,800

Example: 32 xxx $39,000 xxx Year 612 1 613 50 614 $750

611 Xxx Xxx 612 613 614 

611 Xxx Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx Xxx 612 613 614

611 Xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

611 xxx xxx 612 613 614

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

1
Page 7

 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom 

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
Page 8

 

1 Yes 

3 No

 2 Don’t Know

Section 3 - PAID WORKERS IN 2017 

Largest Number of 

Workers in 2017

1. During 2017, what was the largest number of hired workers on the payroll on 

any one day?.....................................................................................................

None

...........................278.........3

277

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. During 2017, did this operation have any H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers on the payroll?

 The H2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who antiticipate a shortage of 

domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign wokers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or 

services of a temporary or seasonal nature. 

demos

279
Page 9

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES 

1. Please classify this operation in terms of total gross value of sales

[Be sure sales represent only 2017 and earlier years’ production.]

Considering:  Sales of all crops, livestock, poultry, and livestock products (milk, eggs, etc.) sold in 2017.

 The value of product removed for all crops, livestock, and poultry produced under contract 

in 2017.

 Sales of all miscellaneous agricultural products in 2017.

 All government agricultural payments received in 2017.

 Landlord’s share of government payments and crops sold in 2017.

a. What code represents the total gross value of sales, including government agricultural payments?

Total Value GVS Code

‘None’ during 2017. . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

1 ---

1,000 ---

2,500 ---

5,000 ---

10,000 ---

25,000 ---

50,000 ---

100,000 ---

250,000 ---

500,000 ---

1,000,000 ---

2,500,000 ---

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

999

2,499

4,999

9,999

24,999

49,999

99,999

249,999

499,999

999,999

2,499,999

4,999,999

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

1

2

3

4

5 

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 

GVS Code

550

$ 5,000,000 and over ............. 13

b. Does the GVS (gross value of sales) Code in Code Box 550 equal ‘1’ or ‘99’?

 Yes - [Continue.] No - [Go to page 10, item 2.]

c. Record all 2018 crops, land uses, and livestock or poultry now on the total acres operated, 

then go to page 10, item 2.

Land Use ACRES

Field Crops Intended For 

Harvest ACRES Other Crops ACRES

CRP/WRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cut Christmas Trees 

Idle Cropland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

All Fallow Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

____________________ __________________ __________________

Livestock NUMBER

Government Payments

WHOLE

DOLLARS Fruits/Nuts ACRES Cattle – Dairy . . . . . . . 

CRP/WRP Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cattle – Other . . . . . . . 

Other Gov’t Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Chickens . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Hogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pasture/Rangeland

Cropland Used Only For Pasture 

ACRES

__________________ Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Mules/Burros . . . . . . . 

__________________

Permanent Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . Vegetables/Melons ACRES __________________

Woodland Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

__________________ __________________

Aquaculture NUMBER __________________ Office Use

Acres of Ponds in Use . . . . . . . . TOTAL POINTS

Foodsize/Stockers . . . . . . . . . . . . Berries ACRES 552

Fingerlings/Broodfish . . . . . . . . . __________________ PASTURE POINTS

Trout Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ 554
Page 10

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES (continued)

2. Of the farm or ranch income reported, which of these categories represents the largest

portion of the gross income from this operation? 

`

 1 - Grains, Oilseeds, Dry Beans, and Dry Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

(corn, flaxseed, grain silage and forage, grains and oilseeds, popcorn, rice,

small grains, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, straw, etc.)

 2 - Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 3 - Cotton and Cottonseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

 4 - Vegetables, Melons, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

(beets, cabbage, cantaloupes, pumpkins, sweet corn,

tomatoes, watermelons, vegetable seeds, etc.)

 5 - Fruit, Tree Nuts and Berries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

(almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, grapes, hazelnuts, kiwifruit,

oranges, pears, pecans, strawberries, walnuts, etc.)

 6 - Nursery, Greenhouse, Floriculture and Sod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

(bedding plants, bulbs, cut flowers, flower seeds, foliage plants,

mushrooms, nursery potted plants, shrubbery, sod, etc.)

 7 - Cut Christmas Trees and Short Rotation Woody Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

FARM TYPE 

CODE

 8 - Other Crops and Hay, CRP and Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 551

(grass seed, hay and grass silage, hops, maple syrup, mint,

peanuts, sugarcane, sugarbeets, CRP, etc.)

 9 - Hogs and Pigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

10 - Milk and Other Dairy Products from Cows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

11 - Cattle and Calves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

(beef and dairy cattle for breeding stock, fed cattle, beef and dairy cull animals,

stockers and feeders, veal calves, etc.)

12 - Sheep, Goats, and their Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(wool, mohair, milk and cheese)

13 - Horses, Ponies, and Mules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

(burros and donkeys) 13

14 - Poultry and Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(broilers, chickens, turkeys, ducks, eggs, emus, geese, hatchlings,

ostriches, pigeons, pheasants, quail, poultry products, etc.)

15 - Aquaculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(catfish, trout, ornamental and other fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.)

16 - Other Animals and Other Animal Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

(bees, honey, rabbits, fur-bearing animals, semen, manure, 

other animal specialties, etc.)
Page 11

 

Section 5 - CHANGE IN OPERATOR

Complete this section only if you answered “NO” for all questions in item 2 on the face page. 

1. Has the operation named on the label been sold, rented or turned over to someone else?

1 Yes - [Go to item 2] 3 No - [Continue → ] a. Will the land be used for any agricultural purpose by you 

(the operator), or anyone else in the next year (including 

growing crops or raising livestock)?

1 Yes 3 No 2 Don’t Know

Regardless of answer to above, write a note to explain 

the situation, then go to back page, item 1.

2. Please provide the following information for the operation that has taken over the land:

Operation Name: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operator Name: ________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Phone: (________) - _________________________

City: ______________________________________________________ State: __________ ZIP: _________

3. Was this new operation, reported in item 2, in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.]

4. Is this new operation managed?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.] 

5. Were any individuals associated with the new operation, reported in item 2 above, operating land 

individually before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Go to back page, item 1.]
Page 12

 

Section 6 - CONCLUSION

1. Do you (the operator named on the label) make any day - to - day decisions for ANOTHER farm or ranch?

a. 1 Yes - What is the name of this other 

 operation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operation Name: ______________________________________

3 No - [Go to item 2 below.] Address: ________________________________________

City: __________________ State:____ ZIP: ____

Phone: (______) __________________

[ENUMERATOR NOTE: IF ADDITIONAL OPERATION IS INDIVIDUAL OR PARTNERSHIP, complete a separate 

questionnaire for the additional operation.]

b. Was this additional operation in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes – [Continue.] 3 No – [Continue.]

COMMENTS:

2. SURVEY RESULTS: To receive the complete results of this survey on the release date, go to 

www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/

Would you rather have a brief summary mailed to you at a later date? 1 Yes 3 No

9990

Respondent 

Name:

9911

Phone: (____) _____ ________

9910 MM DD YY

Date: __ __ __ __ __ __

OFFICE USE ONLY

Response Respondent Mode Enum. Eval. Change Office Use for POID

1-Comp

2-R

3-Inac

4-Office Hold

5-R – Est

6-Inac – Est

7-Off Hold – Est

9901 1-Op/Mgr

2-Sp

3-Acct/Bkpr

4-Partner

9-Oth

9902 1-PASI (Mail)

2-PATI (Tel)

3-PAPI (Faceto-Face)

6-e-mail

7-Fax

19-Other

9903 9998 9900 9985 9989

 __ __ __ - __ __ __ - __ __ __

Optional Use

9907 9908 9906 9916

S/E Name
85

APPENDIX E: Questionnaire Used during Round 5
 

 

DRAFT OPERATOR AGRICULTURAL LABOR SURVEY – April 2018

OMB No. 0535-xxxx 

Approval Expires: xx/xx/xxxx

Project Code: 528 QID: 150028 

SMetaKey: 3275

Version: 99

DRAFT FEBRUARY 15, 2018

United States

Department of

Agriculture

NATIONAL

AGRICULTURAL

STATISTICS

SERVICE

USDA/NASS

National Operations Division

9700 Page Avenue, Suite 400

St. Louis, MO 63132-1547

Phone: 1-888-424-7828

Fax: 1-855-415-3687

E-mail: nass@nass.usda.gov

The information you provide will be used for statistical purposes only. Your responses will be kept confidential and any person who willfully discloses ANY 

identifiable information about you or your operation is subject to a jail term, a fine, or both. This survey is conducted in accordance with the Confidential 

Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347 and other applicable Federal laws. For more information on how we protect your 

information please visit: https://www.nass.usda.gov/confidentiality. Response to this survey is voluntary.

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number is 0535-0109. The time required to complete this information 

collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and 

maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.

Attempted Contacts

Date Time Notes

State POID Tract Subtr.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

1. [Verify name and mailing address of this operation. Make any corrections 

necessary (including the correct operation name) on the label and continue.] [Check if name label verified] 

2. Since June 1, 2017, have you or will you (name on label)--

a. grow any crops or cut hay?

[Include grains, row crops, oilseeds, fruits, nuts, vegetables (including strawberries and 

melon crops), nursery and greenhouse, Christmas trees, and other specialty crops.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

b. own or raise any livestock, poultry, bees or aquaculture?

[Include livestock and poultry owned, and any being raised under contract for someone else.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

c. sell any agricultural products?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

d. receive government agricultural payments?

[Exclude government payments received as a landlord.]

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Continue.]

e. have more than 19 acres of idle cropland or more than

99 acres of pastureland?

1 Yes - [Go to Section1.] 3 No - [Go to Section 5, page 11, item 1.]
Page 2

 

Sec OFFICE USE

3. Are the day-to-day decisions for this operation made by one individual,

a hired manager, or partners? [Check one]

R. UNIT

9921

1 One individual – [Go to page 3]

8 A hired manager – [Go to page 3]

2 Partners – How many partners make the day-to-day decisions?

SUB.

9941

Number JUNE 1

[Enter number of partners, including operator, and then continue.]. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 

9930

For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only For Office Use Only

Stratum Stratum Stratum Stratum

9922 9923 9927 9928

Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op. Ind. Op.

9924 9924 9924 9924

4. Please identify the other person(s) in this partnership, then go to page 3.

(Verify partners’ names and make necessary corrections if names have already been entered.)

Name: Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______ ) - ______________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No

Name: __________________________________________ Name: __________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________

City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______ City: ____________________ State: ______ ZIP: _______

Phone: (______) - _____________________ Phone: (_______) - ____________________

Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017? Did this partner also operate land individually on June 1, 2017?

 Yes No Yes No
Page 3

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for APRIL 

April 2018

S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 2] 

2 Don’t Know [Go to Section 2]

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of April 8th through April 14th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (sick or vacation) (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. How many workers did you have on payroll to do agricultural work the week of April 8th through 

April 14th ? ...................................................................................................................................

TOTAL NUMBER

660

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

3. In 2018, how many of these total paid workers for that week will be paid by this operation for 150 days 

or more of work?........................................................................................................................................

700

600
Page 4

 

Section 1 - PAID WORKERS for APRIL (continued)

4. Fill out the table below for the workers paid to do agricultural work the week of April 8th through April 14th. Report 

workers who fall under the same worker code on a single line.

 Record each worker only once

 Report only one week of hours and wages for the reference week

 Base wages include the minimum amount paid regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, piece rate, etc.) but 

exclude incentive pay

 Incentive pay includes bonuses, performance pay, hazard pay, overtime pay, etc. that is paid in addition to the base 

wages. 

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 Workers on paid leave (sick or vacation) (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

Worker Code

(select from list on 

page 5)

Number 

of Paid 

Workers

That Week

Total Hours Worked

That Week

Total Gross Wages 

Paid That Week

(Dollars)

Total Base Wages 

Paid That Week

(Dollars)

Total Incentive & 

Overtime Wages 

Paid That Week

(Dollars)

Example: 12 612 60 613 3000 614 $42,000 xxx $36,000 xxx $6000

Example: 32 612 2 613 100 614 $1,400 xxx $1,400 xxx $ 0

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

1
Page 5

 

Worker codes for Sections 1 and 2

Code Work Hired to Do

 FIELD WORKERS

11 Agricultural Equipment Operators - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Drive and control farm equipment to till soil and to plant, cultivate, and harvest crops. 

12

Farmworkers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse: 

Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, field crops, Christmas trees and short rotation woody crops. 

Use hand tools, such as shovels, trowels, hoes, tampers, pruning hooks, shears, and knives. Duties may include tilling soil and applying fertilizers; 

transplanting, weeding, thinning, or pruning crops; applying pesticides; or cleaning, grading, sorting, packing, and loading harvested products. 

May construct trellises, repair fences and farm buildings, or participate in irrigation activities. 

13 Graders And Sorters - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify agricultural crops by size, weight, color or condition. 

14 Hand Packers And Packagers - Crop, Nursery and Greenhouse Products: 

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

15 All Other Field Workers: 

All agricultural workers working with crops, nursery or greenhouse products not included in codes 11-14. 

 LIVESTOCK WORKERS

20 Agricultural Equipment Operators – Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Drive and control heavy farm equipment while 

attending to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals and in harvest of unprocessed animal products.

21

Farmworkers - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: Attend to live farm, ranch, or aquacultural animals including cattle, sheep, 

swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, milking, grazing, 

castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May conduct simple exams; maintain records; assist in births; and 

administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides. May clean and maintain animal housing areas.

22 Graders And Sorters - Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animal Products: 

Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

23 Hand Packers And Packagers - Farm, Ranch and Aquacultural Animal Products:

Pack or package by hand a wide variety of products and materials. 

24 All Other Livestock Workers:

All agricultural workers working with farm, ranch and aquacultural animals or products not included in codes 20 – 23. 

 SUPERVISORS

31

Farmers, Ranchers and Other Agricultural Managers:

Plan, direct, or coordinate the management or operation of farms, ranches, greenhouses, aquacultural operations, nurseries, tree farms, or other 

agricultural establishments. 

32 First-Line Supervisors of Farm Workers:

Directly supervise and coordinate the activities of agricultural, aquacultural, and related workers. 

 OTHER WORKERS

41

Agricultural Inspectors:

Inspect agricultural commodities, processing equipment and facilities, and aquacultural operations, to ensure compliance with regulations and 

laws governing health, quality, and safety. 

42 Animal Breeders:

Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. 

43

Pesticide Handlers and Sprayers:

Mix or apply pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or insecticides through sprays, dusts, vapors, soil incorporation, or chemical application to all crops 

including nursery and greenhouse products and facilities, and livestock, and livestock facilities. Usually requires specific training and state or 

federal certification. Excludes pilots who dust or spray crops from aircraft.

44

Any Other Worker Not Listed Above:

Including, but not limited to, mechanics, shop workers, truck drivers, accountants, bookkeepers, office workers. Excluding contract & custom

workers, retail workers, and “value-added” workers.
Page 6

 

Section 2 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY 

January 2018

S M T W Th F S

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

1 Yes [Continue]

3 No [Go to Section 3] 

2 Don’t Know [Go to Section 3]

1. Did this operation have anyone on the payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7th through January 13th?

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate, etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (sick or vacation) (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. How many workers did you have on payroll to do agricultural work the week of January 7th

through January 13

th ? ..................................................................................................................

TOTAL NUMBER

660

NUMBER OF 

WORKERS

3. In 2018, how many of these total paid workers for that week will be paid by this operation for 150 

days or more of work?........................................................................................................................

700

600
Page 7

 

Section 2 - PAID WORKERS for JANUARY (continued)

4. Fill out the table below for the workers paid to do agricultural work the week of January 7th through January 13th. Report 

workers who fall under the same worker code on a single line.

 Record each worker only once

 Report only one week of hours and wages for the reference week

 Base wages include the minimum amount paid regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, piece rate, etc.) but 

exclude incentive pay 

 Incentive pay includes bonuses, performance pay, hazard pay, overtime pay, etc. that is paid in addition to the base 

wages. 

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 Workers on paid leave (sick or vacation) (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

Worker Code

(select from list on 

page 5)

Number 

of Paid 

Workers

That Week

Total Hours Worked

That Week

Total Gross Wages 

Paid That Week

(Dollars)

Total Base Wages 

Paid That Week

(Dollars)

Total Incentive & 

Overtime Wages 

Paid That Week

(Dollars)

Example: 12 612 60 613 3000 614 $42,000 xxx $36,000 xxx $6000

Example: 32 612 2 613 100 614 $1,400 xxx $1,400 xxx $ 0

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

611 612 613 614 Xxx Xxx

Office Use – Completion Code – Usability 

1 – Incomplete, Has Labor

2 – Incomplete, Unknown 

3 – No Labor 

698 599

1
Page 8

 

1 Yes 

3 No

 2 Don’t Know

Section 3 - PAID WORKERS IN 2017 

Largest Number of 

Workers in 2017

1. During 2017, what was the largest number of hired workers on the payroll on 

any one day?.....................................................................................................

None

...........................278.........3

277

INCLUDE:

 Workers directly hired and paid by the farm operation 

 Part-time workers, paid family members, and hired managers 

 All hired workers regardless of method of pay (salaried, hourly, daily, monthly, piece rate etc.)

 Workers on paid leave (sick or vacation) (include typical hours and wages for the week)

EXCLUDE:

 Contract and custom workers

 Retail workers and “value-added” workers

2. During 2017, did this operation have any H-2A Temporary Agricultural Workers on the payroll?

 The H2A temporary agricultural program allows agricultural employers who antiticipate a shortage of 

domestic workers to bring nonimmigrant foreign wokers to the U.S. to perform agricultural labor or 

services of a temporary or seasonal nature. 

demos

279
Page 9

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES 

1. Please classify this operation in terms of total gross value of sales

[Be sure sales represent only 2017 and earlier years’ production.]

Considering:  Sales of all crops, livestock, poultry, and livestock products (milk, eggs, etc.) sold in 2017.

 The value of product removed for all crops, livestock, and poultry produced under contract 

in 2017.

 Sales of all miscellaneous agricultural products in 2017.

 All government agricultural payments received in 2017.

 Landlord’s share of government payments and crops sold in 2017.

a. What code represents the total gross value of sales, including government agricultural payments?

Total Value GVS Code

‘None’ during 2017. . . . . . . . . . . . 99 

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

1 ---

1,000 ---

2,500 ---

5,000 ---

10,000 ---

25,000 ---

50,000 ---

100,000 ---

250,000 ---

500,000 ---

1,000,000 ---

2,500,000 ---

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

$

999

2,499

4,999

9,999

24,999

49,999

99,999

249,999

499,999

999,999

2,499,999

4,999,999

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

1

2

3

4

5 

6

7

8

9

10

11

12 

GVS Code

550

$ 5,000,000 and over ............. 13

b. Does the GVS (gross value of sales) Code in Code Box 550 equal ‘1’ or ‘99’?

 Yes - [Continue.] No - [Go to page 10, item 2.]

c. Record all 2018 crops, land uses, and livestock or poultry now on the total acres operated, 

then go to page 10, item 2.

Land Use ACRES

Field Crops Intended For 

Harvest ACRES Other Crops ACRES

CRP/WRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cut Christmas Trees 

Idle Cropland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

All Fallow Land . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

____________________ __________________ __________________

Livestock NUMBER

Government Payments

WHOLE

DOLLARS Fruits/Nuts ACRES Cattle – Dairy . . . . . . . 

CRP/WRP Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Cattle – Other . . . . . . . 

Other Gov’t Payments . . . . . . . . . __________________ Chickens . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Hogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Pasture/Rangeland

Cropland Used Only For Pasture 

ACRES

__________________ Horses . . . . . . . . . . . . 

__________________ Mules/Burros . . . . . . . 

__________________

Permanent Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . Vegetables/Melons ACRES __________________

Woodland Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ __________________

__________________ __________________

Aquaculture NUMBER __________________ Office Use

Acres of Ponds in Use . . . . . . . . TOTAL POINTS

Foodsize/Stockers . . . . . . . . . . . . Berries ACRES 552

Fingerlings/Broodfish . . . . . . . . . __________________ PASTURE POINTS

Trout Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________________ 554
Page 10

 

Section 4 - VALUE of SALES (continued)

2. Of the farm or ranch income reported, which of these categories represents the largest

portion of the gross income from this operation? 

`

 1 - Grains, Oilseeds, Dry Beans, and Dry Peas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

(corn, flaxseed, grain silage and forage, grains and oilseeds, popcorn, rice,

small grains, sorghum, soybeans, sunflowers, straw, etc.)

 2 - Tobacco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

 3 - Cotton and Cottonseed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

 4 - Vegetables, Melons, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

(beets, cabbage, cantaloupes, pumpkins, sweet corn,

tomatoes, watermelons, vegetable seeds, etc.)

 5 - Fruit, Tree Nuts and Berries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

(almonds, apples, blueberries, cherries, grapes, hazelnuts, kiwifruit,

oranges, pears, pecans, strawberries, walnuts, etc.)

 6 - Nursery, Greenhouse, Floriculture and Sod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

(bedding plants, bulbs, cut flowers, flower seeds, foliage plants,

mushrooms, nursery potted plants, shrubbery, sod, etc.)

 7 - Cut Christmas Trees and Short Rotation Woody Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

FARM TYPE 

CODE

 8 - Other Crops and Hay, CRP and Pasture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 551

(grass seed, hay and grass silage, hops, maple syrup, mint,

peanuts, sugarcane, sugarbeets, CRP, etc.)

 9 - Hogs and Pigs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

10 - Milk and Other Dairy Products from Cows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

11 - Cattle and Calves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

(beef and dairy cattle for breeding stock, fed cattle, beef and dairy cull animals,

stockers and feeders, veal calves, etc.)

12 - Sheep, Goats, and their Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

(wool, mohair, milk and cheese)

13 - Horses, Ponies, and Mules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

(burros and donkeys) 13

14 - Poultry and Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

(broilers, chickens, turkeys, ducks, eggs, emus, geese, hatchlings,

ostriches, pigeons, pheasants, quail, poultry products, etc.)

15 - Aquaculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

(catfish, trout, ornamental and other fish, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.)

16 - Other Animals and Other Animal Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

(bees, honey, rabbits, fur-bearing animals, semen, manure, 

other animal specialties, etc.)
Page 11

 

Section 5 - CHANGE IN OPERATOR

Complete this section only if you answered “NO” for all questions in item 2 on the face page. 

1. Has the operation named on the label been sold, rented or turned over to someone else?

1 Yes - [Go to item 2] 3 No - [Continue → ] a. Will the land be used for any agricultural purpose by you 

(the operator), or anyone else in the next year (including 

growing crops or raising livestock)?

1 Yes 3 No 2 Don’t Know

Regardless of answer to above, write a note to explain 

the situation, then go to back page, item 1.

2. Please provide the following information for the operation that has taken over the land:

Operation Name: _______________________________________________________________________________

Operator Name: ________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________ Phone: (________) - _________________________

City: ______________________________________________________ State: __________ ZIP: _________

3. Was this new operation, reported in item 2, in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.]

4. Is this new operation managed?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Continue.] 

5. Were any individuals associated with the new operation, reported in item 2 above, operating land 

individually before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes - [Go to back page, item 1.]

3 No - [Go to back page, item 1.]
Page 12

 

Section 6 - CONCLUSION

1. Do you (the operator named on the label) make any day - to - day decisions for ANOTHER farm or ranch?

a. 1 Yes - What is the name of this other 

 operation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operation Name: ______________________________________

3 No - [Go to item 2 below.] Address: ________________________________________

City: __________________ State:____ ZIP: ____

Phone: (______) __________________

[ENUMERATOR NOTE: IF ADDITIONAL OPERATION IS INDIVIDUAL OR PARTNERSHIP, complete a separate 

questionnaire for the additional operation.]

b. Was this additional operation in business before June 1, 2017?

1 Yes – [Continue.] 3 No – [Continue.]

COMMENTS:

2. SURVEY RESULTS: To receive the complete results of this survey on the release date, go to 

www.nass.usda.gov/Surveys/Guide_to_NASS_Surveys/

Would you rather have a brief summary mailed to you at a later date? 1 Yes 3 No

9990

Respondent 

Name:

9911

Phone: (____) _____ ________

9910 MM DD YY

Date: __ __ __ __ __ __

OFFICE USE ONLY

Response Respondent Mode Enum. Eval. Change Office Use for POID

1-Comp

2-R

3-Inac

4-Office Hold

5-R – Est

6-Inac – Est

7-Off Hold – Est

9901 1-Op/Mgr

2-Sp

3-Acct/Bkpr

4-Partner

9-Oth

9902 1-PASI (Mail)

2-PATI (Tel)

3-PAPI (Faceto-Face)

6-e-mail

7-Fax

19-Other

9903 9998 9900 9985 9989

 __ __ __ - __ __ __ - __ __ __

Optional Use

9907 9908 9906 9916

S/E Name