Labor Hour Estimates

Labor hours in the budgets are used in FINPACK for long range planning (FINLRB) and for monthly cash flow projections with budgets (FINFLO). Labor hours are used in long range planning (FINLRB) to compare the labor requirements of alternative plans. Monthly cash flow projections with budgets (FINFLO) use labor hours with the cost of production calculations. Here, labor hours from the budgets are used as the default for allocating related operating expenses to the particular crop and livestock enterprises in the plan. This approach streamlines data entry in the FINFLO plan.

To help with this data entry element, the tables on the following pages show labor hour estimates for various crop and livestock enterprises from FINBIN. These estimates are a good source if labor hours are not available from the farm / ranch records or another local source.

The crop labor hour estimates are averages from owned and cash rented land, from 2020 through 2022, and includes farms from Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin.

The livestock labor hour estimates are averages from 2020 through 2022 and includes farms and ranches from Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Crop Labor Hours per Acre

Livestock Labor Hours per Head

Livestock Labor Hours per Litter