Variability of hired labour wages and farmers’ own labour remuneration across EU countries

Abstract

The consistent downward trend in the number of farmers and their family members working on farms, observed for many years, forces farmers to use hired labour, which significantly affects issues related to the payment for labour in EU agriculture. The aim of the study discussed in the article is to assess the differences in the level of hired labour on farms in EU countries and the remuneration of farmers and their family members, which is provided for by the income of the farm. In order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to determine the amount of time of hired work on farms and the remuneration per hour of hired work. The article also examines the effect the Common Agricultural Policy subsidies supporting the farms’ operating activity have on farmers’ remuneration. The subject of the study focused on commercial farms keeping FADN agricultural accounting in 28 EU countries. Standard results of the FADN EU were used in the analysis. The average results of two periods which included the years 2015– 2017 and 2018–2019 were assessed. Horizontal and vertical analyses were used to compare the parameters characterising farms in individual countries in both periods of the study. The conducted research indicates a growing demand for hired labour on farms in the EU, which increases the share of the cost of hired workers in the total costs of a farm. Therefore, it is advisable to continue public support in the framework of the agricultural policy, which contributes to the generation of farm income at an acceptable level. As the study shows, the hourly wages of hired workers in most EU countries exceeded the per hour, unsubsidised income resulting from a farmer’s own labour, and such a situation – from the farmers’ point of view – undermines the economic viability of continuing agricultural production.