Stock Growers discuss wages at 1918 meeting

Wages for ranch and farm hands has long been a topic for discussion. Below is an article from The Saratoga Sun from April 11, 1918.
    “A large number of the members of the Saratoga Valley Stock Growers attended a meeting in Saratoga at city hall last Friday. The gathering was called for the purpose of discussing the farm labor problem, and a scale of wages was adopted as follows:
    Ordinary ranch work, $50.00 a month and board, lights and fuel.
    Hay hands, $2.50 a day.
    Hay stackers, $3.50 a day.
    Professional irrigators, $3.00 a day.
    Teams, $2.50 a day; employer furnishing hay, owner furnishing oats.
    The ordinary ranch hand wage is $5.00 above the government recommendation, as now employers now contend that they cannot provide good board, fuel and other items to their help.”