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Bonus Plans for Farm Employees

William Edwards and, Ann Johanns (March, 2012)

Summary

In a 2011 survey of full-time farm employees conducted by Iowa State University and the North Central Risk Management Education Center, 65 percent of the employees were paid some type of bonus. The value of the bonus payment ranged from $100 to over $20,000, with the average value being $2,351 for employees who received a bonus. There are almost as many types of bonuses as there are employers. Most of the plans reported were based on one of four factors: performance, volume, longevity or profitability.