MSU Extension Farm Management

MSU Extension Farm Management Educators provide educational programs and one-on-one consultations with farms and farm families in the area of labor management, employee development and HR best practices. Below are a number of publications, fact sheets and links related to labor and human resource management.

MSU Publications and Fact Sheets

• Agriculture Employee Handbook Template - Stan Moore, MSU Extension Feb. 2014
• MSU Extension Bulletin E2966 Labor Laws and Michigan Agriculture Also available at the MSU Extension Book Store *NEW September 2020
• Agricultural Employer Checklist - Moore, Kantrovich, Risch, Jones; MSU Extension April 2020
• Growing dairies are healthy dairies in more ways than just financially - Stan Moore, Jan. 2012
• Michigan Dairy Employment Survey - MSU Product Center, 2013

Labor Forms, Reporting & Information

• Current I-9 form from USCIS (Includes English, Spanish, and Instructions)
• MIOSHA Required Poster, Wage and Hour Program, General Requirements for Minimum Wage and Overtime (MIOSHA)
• Current US W-4
• Current Michigan W-4 (Mi Dept of Treasury) 2012
• Michigan New Hire Reporting
• E-Verify (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services)
• Dairy Incentive Pay 2005 - (Billikopf, Overton, Reynolds, Kirk, Higginbotham, Berry and Moore, 2005)
• Foreign Agricultural Workers on H2A Visa’s (IRS)
• IRS Pub 5144: Federal Income Tax and FICA Withholding for Foreign Agricultural Workers with an H2A Visa (IRS)
• Final Rule on Overtime - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) (U.S. Dept. of Labor)

Youth Labor Rules

• Child Labor Bulletin 102 (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
• Fact Sheet #40: Federal Youth Employment Laws in Farm Jobs  (U.S. Dept. of Labor)
• Michigan Youth employment restrictions
• Michigan Youth Employment Act (Michigan Legislature)
• MIOSHA Required Poster, Wage and Hour Program, General Requirements for Minimum Wage and Overtime (MIOSHA)

Employee Engagement

• Skin in the game - Phil Durst, Jan. 2012
• Interviewing employees on the way out - Phil Durst, Oct. 2011
• Building employee loyalty through involvement - Phil Durst, Jan. 2012
• Developing a winning labor force on your farm - Stan Moore and Phil Durst, July 2011
• How do your farm’s employees measure up - Faith Cullens, Feb. 2012

Human Resource Management in Agriculture Sites

• Farmworker Legal Services of Michigan
• Penn State Dairy Alliance (Educational and Certificate programs; also information on HRM issues)
• Kansas State Agricultural Manager (Management and risk information site with HRM articles by Sarah Fogleman and others)
• Purdue Extension-HRM (Lectures by Bernie Ervin, part of the Strategic Business Planning for Commercial Producers training modules)
• University of California, Agricultural Labor Management (A Host of AG HR Resources)
• Michigan Dairy Review: Having to Dismiss a Dairy Farm Employee - Vera Bitsch, April 2009