Wage Ceiling Regulations Applied to Agricultural Labor

Excerpts: Up to September 1, of this year, 69 different wage ceilings were issued by the Labor Branch of the United States Department of Agriculture. Top rates that farmers could pay to workers for performing specific crop operations in parts of Maine, South Dakota, Delaware, Florida, Texas, Idaho, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, and California were set up. The first ceiling was established on April 12, 1943, for asparagus harvest labor in 5 California counties. During the rest of 1943, wage ceilings for picking cotton, picking raisin grapes, and picking canning tomatoes in specified areas in California and for citrus harvest in Florida were issued. Wage ceilings were applied to help make the most effective use of farm labor by reducing turnovers, excessive bidding up of wage rates by growers, and loss of time by workers in seeking jobs rumored to be paying higher wage rates, and to assist in the effort to prevent inflation.