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Let's file this one in the "you can't make this up" category. Down Mexico way, they are running out of farm workers. This is the story: For decades, Mexicans crossed the border to pick Americans’ lettuce, grapes and strawberries. Mexico had a seemingly inexhaustible supply of farmhands — tough, hard-working men who did the jobs most Americans didn’t want. But the country is running short of farmworkers.The workforce is graying; nearly three-quarters of Mexican campesinos are over 45. Young people are turning up their noses at farm jobs. And those willing to do migrant work have other options. Nearly 300,000...

Philip Martin is Professor Emeritus of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California at Davis...Long essay, but should be of interest to anyone in the food business, and of interest to any general readers who wonder how dinner gets to the dinner table.

WASHINGTON—Lawmakers, agriculture groups and farmworker organizations are pushing to pass an overhaul of the farmworker visa program through both chambers of Congress before the GOP takes control of the House next year. A bill providing a path to citizenship for about one million farmworkers—and creating a capped number of new year-round visas—passed the House in March 2021, with the support of 217 Democrats and 30 Republicans. The measure is generally supported by immigrant advocacy groups and by farmers who say they struggle to find enough people to harvest their crops. Republicans generally oppose efforts to provide legal status to people...

As worsening drought conditions in California and the West take a heavy economic toll on agriculture, state legislators are considering a plan to pay farmworkers $1,000 a month to help them cover the cost of necessities. The bill is meant to assist farmworkers who have fewer crops to tend as climate change limits the window for each growing season and cuts the Golden State's water supply. Under the $20-million program, eligible workers would receive a $1,000 stipend for three years. It's unclear how many farmworkers would qualify. Farmworkers would need to meet requirements to qualify for the program: - Have...

The House is expected to vote Wednesday on the hilariously misnamed Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would “modernize” agricultural labor right back to the 17th century. At the core of the bill are several indentured-labor schemes intended to tie current illegal aliens and future “temporary” workers to farm jobs for four to ten years before giving them Green Cards.

Before the music lets talk about plans for next week in Idaho with legislators seeking to end martial law and the emergency rule of Republican Governor Brad Little. They intend to attempt a meeting on Tuesday morning at 9 am in Boise at the State Capitol...... And Dame Vera Lynn passed away this week at the age of 103. She is remembered for her wartime singing but of course that song "We'll Meet Again" was the closing of "Dr. Strangelove's" working the government officials to dictate our lives.... I guess this is a good lead into John Bolton and his...

The German government said it was barring entry to seasonal workers from abroad from Wednesday to stem the coronavirus outbreak, potentially leaving farmers with a dire shortage of manpower to harvest crops. “Seasonal and harvest workers will no longer be allowed to enter Germany within the framework of our border controls,” a spokesman for the interior ministry told a Berlin press conference. The ban will apply from 5pm and will be in place “until further notice”, he said, and includes people from EU countries. Around 300,000 seasonal workers come to Germany each year, mainly from Poland and Romania, to help...

A bipartisan group of House members revealed an immigration bill to prop up the dwindling agricultural labor base by regularizing the status of foreign-born workers. The bill, presented by Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), and Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) has the support of 24 Democrats and 20 Republicans. “The success of our farmers, growers and producers is essential not only for our economy but for our national security," said Diaz-Balart, the lead Republican on the bill. "For far too long, we’ve suffered from a broken H2A visa...

It’s taken nearly five years of administrative battles, legislative interference, and lawsuits, but the California state government has finally counted farm workers’ votes in a union election at the state’s largest fruit grower, Fresno-based Gerawan Farming. The final verdict, tallied on Tuesday, explains why the Jerry Brown administration and Democratic statehouse leaders did everything in their power to destroy the votes without counting them. The margin: 1,098 workers voted “no” to the United Farm Workers, with only 197 workers voting in favor of UFW representation. There still are 635 disputed ballots, but even the math geniuses in Sacramento can see...

Fasten your seatbelts for one of the strangest union stories to come over the transom in a while. Back in 2013 (which is five years ago, for those who skipped math class), out in Fresno, California, the workers at farming corporation Gerawan Farming held a vote to determine whether or not they would decertify their membership in United Farm Workers (UFW), the union which had been representing them. The vote was held, and then… nothing. The union refused to release the results and even convinced a court arbiter that they could do so. They went on acting as the...

The tide of globalism, is, according to economists, a train that has already left the station. The neo-liberal consensus, shared by both Republicans and Democrats alike over the past few decades has been that so-called ‘free trade’ is the solution to economic growth in American. But globalism also has its discontents, none less acknowledged than the American farm worker.In 1870, at the height of the labor market in agriculture, fully half of all working Americans were employed in the agriculture industry. Today, that figure is less than one percent of all workers. There are several reasons for this. First, technological...

The ALRB is acting as an arm of, and on behalf of the United Farm Workers labor union, rather than farm workers The Agricultural Labor Relations Board has spent $10.8 million to prevent Gerawan Farming Workers 2013 votes from being counted—more than $4,100 per vote to deny farmworkers their legal rights to be heard. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board is also being sued for bias and conflicts of interest, and has been found actively and openly working on behalf of the United Farm Workers Labor union, rather than farm workers. And this takes money… a lot of money.

A group of Fresno farm workers is accusing the state of California of forcing them into the United Farm Workers union. Workers at Fresno-based Gerawan Farms held an election in November to determine whether or not they would remain in the UFW. However, those ballots were never counted. The Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) seized the ballots until it could investigate UFW allegations of voter impropriety. “We direct the regional director to forward to the Board and serve on all parties to the election all challenged ballot declarations and all other evidence in his possession relevant to the eligibility of...

FRESNO, Calif. — With the harvest in full swing on the West Coast, farmers in California and other states say they can't find enough people to pick high value crops such as grapes, peppers, apples and pears. In some cases, workers have walked off fields in the middle of harvest, lured by offers of better pay or easier work elsewhere. The shortage and competition for workers means labor expenses have climbed, harvests are getting delayed and less fruit and vegetable products are being picked, prompting some growers to say their income is suffering. But farmworkers, whose incomes are some of...

Wall-E-Like Farming Robots Could Replace Undocumented Workers and Save the US Billions Despite advancements in mechanization within US agriculture, some menial jobs are still best left to human workers. Problem is, federal crackdowns on undocumented laborers have decimated that workforce. The Harvester automaton could provide a cheap, readily available labor force without the threat of raids by the INS. The US agriculture industry is worth about $300 billion annually—half from livestock production, the other half from crops. However, some of the most basic jobs in this industry still have to be performed by people. Jobs like offloading potted plants from...

I just watched the local news here in Tampa. They had a segment stating that we have a shortage of workers to work the farms. They interviewed the owner of a strawberry farm and he mentioned that due to the shortage of immigrants being allowed to enter this country, he doesn't have enough workers. Guess the people on unemployment or that have dropped out of the workforce are too good to pick strawberries? Guess they would rather get the handouts!

I recently read the new biography of Trotsky by Oxford don Robert Service, published in 2009 by Pan Books. It is well-written and surprisingly interesting. The book does a great public service in describing the life of the actual Trotsky, whose previous “biographies” were little more than hagiographies written by his toady worshippers (people like Isaac Deutscher). The last time that I had taken any interest in Trotsky was when I was a teenager and had fleeting delusions of believing in “socialism.” Reading the new book as an adult and as an economist, I found it a useful opportunity to...

With a little under a month remaining until Election Day, the Obama campaign has transitioned into full-blown hispandering mode. This week’s symbolically potent, yet empty, exercise in gestural politics entailed President Obama designating the home of former California labor leader Cesar Chavez a national monument. The ostensible purpose of this decision is to rally support among one of his party’s most reliable voting blocs, i.e. Hispanic Americans. Because even though they still decisively support the President’s reelection, that support does not always translate into votes, as other analysts have trenchantly observed. What makes Obama’s trip to California so fascinating though...

“If the federal government can regulate the relationshipbetween parents and their children on their own family’sfarm there is virtually nothing off limits” - Senator Jerry Moran Just when I thought Obama's big government couldn't get more intrusive we have this: (h/t Gateway Pundit and Allen Wall) The U.S. Department of Labor is proposing revisions to child labor regulations that will strengthen the safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture and related fields. The agricultural hazardous occupations orders under the Fair Labor Standards Act that bar young workers from certain tasks have not been updated since they were promulgated in...

Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- Gov. Jerry Brown has until midnight Tuesday to act on a bill that would make it easier for unions to organize farmworkers in California, but growers characterize the legislation as a union power-grab. The bill would allow farmworkers to organize by signing a petition away from the fields, rather than holding a secret ballot election as they do now. Unions say the current system leads to intimidation by employers, while farmers say a petition system would make it easier for union organizers to bully workers into joining. Growers and other business groups also say greater unionization...