Dairy labor markets have the potential to undergo notable change in the near future due to tightening labor markets and increased activity by worker advocacy groups. Given this context, this dissertation explores three areas related to dairy labor markets. In the first essay dairy workers are surveyed to identify their preferred compensation packages to assist farmers in offering the most attractive benefits to recruit and retain workers. The final two essays move along the supply chain to see how consumers may impact dairy labor markets particularly in relationship to ongoing demand for changes to animal welfare practices. In the second essay whether consumers are willing to pay a price premium for a label certifying working conditions is estimated. Additionally, attention is directly to answering, if consumers are willing to pay a premium (1) is it greater than or less than a premium for animal welfare labeling and (2) does it change under different information settings. Finally, the third essay explores the public's preferences for worker welfare practices compared to animal welfare practices. For additional robustness, the last two essays are also applied to the egg production system to explore labor effects in other animal-based agricultural production sectors.
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