Farm Worker Shortage

Farm Worker Shortage

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
A survey recently released by the Farm Bureau shows immigration policy still harms agriculture in the same capacity as seen in a similar survey in 2012.

The informal survey showed that more than half of responding farmers had experienced employee shortages during the past year.

The Farm Bureau's Paul Wenger says the worker shortage impacts farm operations.

"We have seen some people making some changes and their cropping patterns to go to more mechanize types of crops and try and do a deal with Farm labor contractors but the bottom line is we have a broken immigration system farmers and ranchers are having to make decisions not based on the Market's but based on the availability of Labor"

And Wenger says the shortage in farm labor means a more competitive situation for farmers to source workers.

"A lot of farm labor contractors going into other fields and Orchards offering increased wages rob Peter to pay Paul get somebody to come over and pick their crops and leave the others when you don't have that available Supply it means there's a big fight over those folks that are there and the end of the day somebody's going to lose"

He says the survey gives Congress proof that agriculture needs comprehensive immigration reform, and that farmers continue to have trouble finding a full workforce.

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