Farm Labor Contracting in the United States, 1981

About 250,000 people worked for farm labor contractors during 1981 making up 10 percent of all hired farmworkers. Most crew workers (53 percent) were white, 28 percent were Hispanic, and 19 percent were black or of other racial/ethnic groups. Most crew workers lived in the Southeast, North Central Lake States, Southwest, and Lower Pacific Coast regions of the United States. Their earnings averaged $2,772 annually, $1,936 of which came from farmwork. Of the 9,774 people who registered for certification to hire farmworkers for crew work in 1981, 2,557 applied for Department of Labor authorization to transport workers to and from work, and 827 applied for authorization to provide housing for their employees