From JoplinGlobe.com, “Growers struggle to cope with farmworker shortage” McClatchy Newspapers, 7 Jun 2012. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kevin Steward has spent more than a quarter-century in agriculture, much of that growing grapes for wineries. He’s always been able to rely on seasonal workers to tend the vines and bring in the year’s harvest. But this … Continue reading
From AgAlert.com, California Farm Bureau Federation, Steve Adler, 9 May 2012. As crops around the state are being planted, pruned, fertilized and watered in anticipation of a bountiful harvest, there’s a dark cloud forming overhead. The concern on farmers’ minds is whether there will be enough agricultural workers to get everything harvested. Reports of labor … Continue reading
From McClatchyDC.com, Sean Cockerham, 7 May 2012. As the summer growing season approaches, farmers across the county are experiencing widespread frustration over the federal H-2A visa program for seasonal agriculture workers.< In Idaho, farmers such as Jim Little of Emmett say they need immigrant workers from Latin America but that the government is making it … Continue reading
From Tri-CityHerald.com, Tri-City Herald Editorial Staff, 6 May 2012. When a recent story ran about Mid-Columbia farmers who abandoned their asparagus fields because they couldn’t find enough workers to harvest the crop, several thoughts came to mind. It’s sad for the farmer who worked to bring the crop to fruition. It’s sad for the asparagus … Continue reading
From DOL.gov, 26 Apr 2012. News Release WHD News Release: [04/26/2012] Contact Name: Joshua R. Lamont or Elizabeth Alexander Phone Number: (202) 693-4661 or x4675 Release Number: 12-0826-NAT WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today issued the following statement regarding the withdrawal of a proposed rule dealing with children who work in agricultural vocations: … Continue reading
From ThinkProgress.org, Amanda Peterson Beadle, 13 Apr 2012. As soon as Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed a harmful immigration bill into law last year, farmers saw an immediate exodus of thousands of skilled immigrant farm workers. Without enough workers, millions of dollars in crops rotted in the fields because there was no one to harvest them. Officials suggested … Continue reading
From MinnPost.com, Lourdes Medrano, Christian Science Monitor, 9 Apr 2012. The steady stream of immigrant workers who used to line up at Tim Dunn’s Arizona farm, ready to pick vegetable seed crops like black-eyed peas and garbanzo beans, has mostly dried up. “We just don’t see people walking up, looking for jobs like they used to,” he says. … Continue reading
From MichiganRadio.org, Lindsey Smith, 10 Apr 2012. Michigan’s asparagus season has started early because of the warmer than usual weather this spring. But farmers are worried they don’t have enough workers to harvest the crop. “Being a former migrant worker I can tell you that in the past Michigan has had a wealth of workers … Continue reading
From MNDaily.com, Eric Best, 3 Apr 2012. Nearly half a million children farm workers harvest almost 25 percent of our crops. It may sound like something out of the Industrial Revolution, but child labor still exists throughout the U.S. today, in surprising numbers. Most of these children are in undocumented families working in agriculture — … Continue reading
From KBIA.org, Peggy Lowe, 6 Apr 2012. It’s a long way from Forget-Me-Not Farms to the Kansas State Capitol in Topeka. But T.J. Curtis, a dairy farmer from Cimarron, Kan., drove the 300 miles because he’s desperate for workers for his family’s operation in western Kansas, where they want to hire another 75 people. He … Continue reading
