University
of California
University
of California
Human work is critical to all agricultural production, and labor accounts for a large part of the total production cost. In California, at least 75 percent of farm work is performed by hired employees. There are some 35,000 agricultural employers in the state, and they pay $5 billion yearly in wages, a quarter of total production expense. These employers and their managerial staff all face countless decisions in their use of human resources.
The Agricultural Personnel Management Program (APMP) provides education and research on labor management in the food and fiber production system. The program strives to identify means for enhancing economic outcomes in, as well as public regard for, California agriculture. It is one of the units through which the University of California carries out its charge as a land grant institution by applying academic resources to practical problems of people throughout the state. Established by a specific augmentation to the University budget in 1981, the APMP is designated a statewide program of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It is involved with a broad array of collaborators and clientele across regions, campuses, and commodity sectors in California. Program administration is located along with the Agricultural Issues Center, at 132 Social Sciences Building, Davis CA 95616, phone (530) 752-1520.
Personnel management decisions made every day by farm managers and supervisors shape organizational structure, job design, recruitment and selection, training and development, immediate supervision, pay and benefits, employee communications, corrective actions, and other responses to problems. Among factors affecting them are the technologies used in production, the values and philosophies of managers, finances of the firm, product market and labor market conditions, industry tradition, union contracts, workers' skills and interests, and laws and regulations. The APMP helps agricultural business operators to understand the choices they make as personnel managers, the influences and constraints on those choices, their options in practice, and implications of respective options.
APMP extension publications, workshops, and technical assistance help agricultural managers to use personnel management practices contributing to their business results while meeting the standards of labor law and other public policy. Through a number of small in-house grants, the APMP has supported the contributions of researchers and educators other than core staff members of the program. Drawing from various disciplinary perspectives, APMP projects focus on (1) basic personnel management decisions and processes in the farm context, (2) legal, technological, or labor market influences on them, and (3) agricultural labor issues of current public concern. Emphasis is on development of practical guidance for farm business operators, labor contractors, and others who directly manage personnel in agriculture.