[Market-farming] Piece Work Picking

Allan Balliett aballiett at frontiernet.net
Thu Jun 11 07:53:55 EDT 2009


<This is a resend of an erroneously titles post.>

anyone have a clue how to determine piece work rates on things like
peas and beans?

Having access to what the canning companies pay would be a start, I
guess. (They used to pay us 2cents a pound and people were making a
living off from that...but that's another story...)

This is picking for a CSA so I dont readily think of
dollar-value-of-the-crop when trying to determind what's fair to all
parties.

Your ideas and info appreciated.

Thanks

-Allan in WV


>I just pay piece work for berry pickers and last year was at $.75/quart
>for good strawberries (the rate/basket is a little different for
>raspberries and blackberries, but the avg. hourly wage is equivalent).
>Pickers would get docked or let go for less than full or poor quality
>baskets. My average pickers were >$7.50/hour for a relatively easy
>morning of picking.  People who hustled would double that.  My berry
>pickers are generally 9-10th graders from the school where my wife
>teaches or are friends of my kids.  Some come to hang out with their
>friends while others come to work.  No one picks for more than 6
>hours/day and most are done in 4 or less - which works out OK for me as
>I have them out of the berry patch before it gets too warm.  I also
>offer a stocked fridge and freezer so that they can have a pop and/or
>ice cream when they are done.
>
>Andy
>
>Allan Balliett wrote:
>>>   If I had someone like your college girls I would either put them on
>>>   piece-work tasks or let them know that they could probably find a better
>>>   job working for someone else.
>>>
>>>   Andy
>>>
>>
>>   Well, sure, Andy. Do you have any good guidelines for piece work
>>   rates? I started in working for other farmers as a piece worker and
>>   while I consider piece work to be retro and inhumane, I share you
>>   belief that that is all that will work for some people, but what's
>>   fair?
>>
>>   Worse, of course, piece work is a way to pay-less-per-piece but it's
>>   not necessaritly a way to get work done. Unless you do the real
>>   unethical (which Cal-Can always did to we bean pickers) and hire lots
>>   of piece workers at one time...
>>
>>
>>   Thanks _Allan
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>>
>>
>>
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