Can you imagine a hard day of work at a hay field for just a couple of bucks a day?
Yes, times were different but that was the reality for workers at Delta hay fields in 1913.
An article the June edition of The Delta Times that year noted the farmers of Delta had agreed that the wage rate would be $2 per day with board.
“The ranchers state that owing to the quiet times in the business world which must have an effect on the price of produce this year, the price of commodities for the farmer’s table has been steadily going up, a forty per cent increase or so confronting the farmer when he goes to the store for his household supplies,” the articles stated.
“Two dollars a day and the wholesome board of a Delta farm should compare favorably with the railway construction wage rate of $2.25 a day, the railway laborers having to pay out of their weekly earnings at a rate of $6 a week for board.”
The article also noted that between 400-to-500 men were thought required that year to harvest the Delta hay crop.
Many workers were expected to arrive because there was little available construction work in the cities.
An early 1900s harvest scene at Thomas Ladner's Trenant farm
