Agricultural Employment

Reference: Minnesota Law, §268.035 Subd.2 (2007), §268.035 Subd.11 (5) (6) (2007) and §268.035 Subd.16 (2007)

Agricultural employment is any service performed by an employee on a farm in connection with cultivating the soil or in raising or harvesting an agricultural or horticultural commodity. A farm is land or buildings used primarily for raising agricultural or horticultural commodities or as part of a ranch, range, livestock or dairy operation. Feedlots, hatcheries, and horse breeding and training enterprises are not farms.

NOTE: Farms include: stock, dairy, poultry, fruit, truck and fur-bearing animal farms, as well as orchards, plantations, ranches, nurseries, ranges, and greenhouses. Service performed in connection with the operation, management, conservation, improvement, and maintenance of a farm is agricultural if the employer is the owner, tenant, or operator of the farm and the major part of the service is performed on the farm.

An agricultural employer must register for an employer account when it meets any one of the following conditions:

• The employer pays 10 or more employees for at least 20 weeks during a single calendar year,
• The employer pays $20,000 or more to employees during a calendar quarter,
• The employer pays 4 employees for at least 20 weeks, excluding family farm officers and workers 16 and under, or
• The employer pays $20,000 or more in cash or non-cash wages, excluding family farm officers and workers 16 and under.

Special Treatment of Family Farm Corporations
Service performed by an officer or shareholder of a family farm corporation is excluded from agricultural labor and employment unless the corporation is an employer as defined by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA).

A family farm corporation must meet all three requirements:

1. It must be founded for the purposes of farming and the ownership of agricultural land,
2. At least one related member must live on or actively operate the farm, and
3. The majority of the stockholders must be related to each other within the third degree of kindred*.

*Kindred include the following family relationships: parents and children are relatives in the first degree of kindred; grandparents, grandchildren, brothers, and sisters are relatives in the second degree of kindred; uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, and great-grandparents are relatives in the third degree of kindred.

      

This handbook is based on current UI legislation; statements are intended for general information and do not have the effect of law. The Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law - MN Statutes §268.001 to §268.23 and Administrative Rules 3310 and 3315 - can be accessed through our Web site at www.uimn.org; by clicking on the UI Law link.