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Human Resources & Labor
Are autonomous machines financially competitive on today’s farms? Purdue research analyzes the real economics — from labor costs to hardware and subscription fees — and what it will take for autonomy to make sense at scale.
Read MoreAdding a family member or employee to a farm is a long-term financial decision. These slides and self-assessment tools help evaluate financial feasibility, strategic risk, and business resilience before expanding labor.
Read MoreFINBIN data from 2007–2024 show that larger crop farms use significantly fewer labor hours per acre and achieve higher labor efficiency, highlighting clear economies of scale in labor use.
Read MoreLabor costs are one of the most prevalent costs on a farm. As such, farm managers need to evaluate whether they are utilizing labor efficiently and productively. One way to evaluate this issue is to use benchmarks created using data from similar farms. Labor benchmarks should include family and operator labor as well as hired labor.
Read MoreLabor availability and labor retention are big issues in the U.S. economy and that’s especially true for agribusiness firms and for commercial scale farm operations. According to the latest Purdue Agricultural Job Market Report, job postings are up by 50%. More employers are seeking entry-level candidates with higher levels of education. Additionally, it has become more common for employers to include salary information in their job postings as a way to encourage applications. In this episode of the Purdue Commercial AgCast, host Brady Brewer joins Josh Strine, a Ph.D. student in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural Economics, to discuss the Purdue Ag Jobs Dashboard.
Read MoreThis report examines the evolution of Indiana’s labor market from 2014 to 2023, highlighting the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a swift recovery and growth in labor demand post-2021, and a return to pre-pandemic trends starting in 2023. Key indicators such as unemployment rates, employment levels, employment churn, and earnings are analyzed to understand these trends.
Read MoreThis article emphasizes the significance of human resources and information technology (the ability to manage and analyze data) as we transition into a new era of production agriculture. This new era brings further innovation of agricultural technology, information processing, and use of artificial intelligence to digitize agriculture.
Read MoreFarms and agribusinesses are confronted by many different types of risk, but consideration to human resource risk is overlooked by far too many. If critical functions cannot be completed due to a death, disability, disaster, divorce, or disagreement the farm
Read MoreWondering what the current agriculture job market is?
In this episode Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture’s ag economists Brady Brewer and Nathan Delay discuss the agricultural job market and the Purdue University’s Department of Agriculture Economics Ag Jobs Dashboard from research conducted by grad student Doug Abney.
The dashboard is an overview of monthly data collected of the agricultural job market over time, starting the summer of 2021. Slides and a transcript from the discussion are available.
Read MoreLabor costs are one of the most prevalent costs on a farm. As such, farm managers need to evaluate whether they are utilizing labor efficiently and productively. One way to evaluate this issue is to use benchmarks created using data from similar farms.
Read More