Los Banos Rotary Club History
Farm Payroll Linked to Welfare Of Community

Pointing out that the agricultural payroll in Los Banos and other San Joaquin valley communities is a very major and important source of prosperity, Ralph B. Bunje, manager of the Agricultural Labor Bureau of the San Joaquin Valley, Inc., Tuesday noon showed Rotary Club a big stake in seeing that farm commodity prices-and farm labor don't drop appreciably in the coming years.

The speaker emphasized that the local agricultural payroll is largely liquid money, practically all of which is spent in local stores. In exact proportion to higher commodity prices received by farmers through the last six or seven years, Bunje explained that the wages paid to farm labor have also increased, until today average weekly earnings are between $38 and $40. Pay of specialized, professional labor, such as pickers and packers, has shown and even greater increase, these workers receiving, in some instances, as much as $40 or $50 a day during the heighth of the harvest season.

Agriculture economists have declared that prices of all farm commodities are expected to drop during 1948 and 1949 about half way to their pre-war level. Such a drop will necessitate a corresponding drop in wages if the farmer is to remain solvent. Bunje said that rural businessmen should be intensely interested in maintaining commodity prices of farm products at as high a level as possible.

Illustrating the importance of agriculture to the valley and nation, Bunje pointed out that in 1945 the value of agricultural crops in this state amounted to 82 per cent of the total value of gold mined in this state during the past 100 years. California is the third most important agricultural state in the Union, and one-third of the state production is within the seven San Joaquin valley counties. It is estimated that the farm labor bill is the seven valley counties last year alone amounted to over $100 million.

Relative to his own organization, Bunje said it was formed 21 years ago by the combined efforts of the valley Chambers of Commerce and Farm Bureau units, for the primary purpose of anticipating and supplying farm labor. Entirely independent and separate from any government bureau, Bunje said the group has been almost wholly financed by growers and processing houses.

During the earlier years, the major source of agricultural labor was largely immigrants from Europe. But as these people settled down they acquired farms of their own and the office turned to the Philippines and to Mexico for a new labor supply. In late years, this supply also has so dwindled that increased mechanization of farm work has become necessary in order to utilize higher priced domestic workers to the best advantage.
The speaker was introduced by R. Lindemann, Rotary program chairman.

February 11, 1947

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