2021 Year in Review — Labor
Labor is typically always tight on the fresh produce farm. That was truer than ever in 2021, but nearly everyone else in the food supply chain was also experiencing a shortage of workers, from packinghouses that packed the fruit and truckers who moved the refrigerated loads, to the warehouse workers who received the load. That is not to mention the wait staff at restaurants and produce clerks at retail.
For growers, the use of the H-2A guest worker program continues to accelerate, but any relief from the high cost of the program remains elusive at the end of 2021.
Labor shortage? Data shows added unemployment payments are crippling employers' ability to find workers
By Tyne Morgan
May 8
Restaurants closing early. Sign after sign plastered along roadsides with businesses looking for help. The hiring issue is evident in many regions of the country, crippling everything from manufacturing to the restaurant industry.
And in the Pacific Northwest, farmer Shay Myers is also dealing with a labor shortage. He pushed out a TikTok video that went viral after he pointed out 350 pounds of asparagus that were on the verge of going to waste.
“We can’t get the labor,” he said on the video. “We can’t get people to show up and do the work for $16 an hour, with housing, transportation and all of those things. What we usually do is bring people in on an H2A visa, but the border is so screwed up that we can’t get people across. So they are telling us it’s 30 to 45 days before we have laborers in this field to pick this crop.”
Suppliers point to government policy as one reason behind labor shortage
By Tom Karst
April 29
With an online survey, The Packer is gathering input on labor conditions that produce grower-shippers are experiencing.
The early results indicate farmworker numbers were short of what those participating in the survey need.
Respondents answered the question, “If you are experiencing a labor shortage, what do you believe are the reasons for the shortage?” A follow-up question was, “One thing I wish the public and politicians knew about the farm labor situation is ...”
East Coast vegetable grower:
On reasons for the shortage: “COVID, stimulus money, unemployment benefits.”
On what the supplier wishes the public and politicians knew: “Many businesses are currently experiencing labor shortages due to easy-to-obtain unemployment benefits offered to the public. These benefits exceed potential wages in most cases. It is much easier to stay home and easily live off the government than to work and earn your living.”
East Coast greenhouse hiring manager
On reasons for the shortage: “It is more and more difficult to apply for and obtain foreign workers. We actually prefer to use local labor, but the fact of the matter is, local labor is not looking to do the types of tasks required in agriculture. These stimulus payments and unemployment benefits have only made things worse. We have raised our local wages 12% since the beginning of the pandemic and, still, no one wants to work. This is a huge risk to our business. Those in Washington have no clue what it takes to get fresh food to their plate. I feel changes will only come when it’s too late for a lot of farms.”
Northwest potato and beet grower
On reasons for the shortage: “Not enough domestic labor available.”
On what the grower wishes the public and politicians knew: “Without H-2A and foreign workers, we could not keep operating our farm. Our local unemployment rate is around 3% and we are in a severe labor shortage. Stop paying people not to work!”
Midwest mushroom producer
On reasons for the shortage: “Government paying people too much to stay home in stimulus checks and unemployment benefits.”
On what the grower wishes the public and politicians knew: “Our current situation is not sustainable. The higher wages go, the more food will cost and automation will become cheaper; therefore, less jobs for people.”
Western citrus producer
On reasons for the shortage: “Government entitlements. No incentive to work when you can get over $500 (per) week not working.”
On what the grower wishes the public and politicians knew: “The H-2A visa program is essential to our livelihood. While it’s unfortunate to realize the dollars going back into foreign countries, we have no logical other options.”
The never-ending, never-worse problem with labor
May 16, 2021
By Tom Karst
Now and again, and ever since I can remember, there have been discussions about whether U.S. workers want to do the hard work of harvesting artichokes, picking tomatoes, or climbing a tree to pick apples.
A certain element of society has always been of the mind that Americans SHOULD want to work hard; they SHOULD want to do any job that is vacant if those American workers find themselves idled and out of work.
Perhaps all of us hold that belief at some level. Notwithstanding the preferences of myself or hopes for my children, why can’t farm jobs be filled by some other nameless Americans? Growers should increase wages a bit and then they could have applicants standing in line for an honest day’s work, we seem to think.
Farmers are the first to disabuse people of such populist opinions. There is no way, no how, that U.S. workers are showing up to harvest green beans.
American workers have stayed away in droves from the most demanding farm jobs. Many jobs are filled by undocumented migrants.
The question is increasingly moot. American fresh produce growers have an increasingly necessary reliance on guest workers from the H-2A program. Despite the high cost of the program, it is an essential piece to continued domestic fruit and vegetable production.
Last week, the American Mushroom Institute issued a news release stating that “retailers are facing fresh mushroom shortages as producers struggle to find labor for their operations.”
“Now more than ever, we need our national labor strategy to be competitive,” the group said in a news release. The group urged the Senate to take up the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which would establish a Certified Agricultural Worker status and open the H-2A temporary worker program to include the mushroom industry.
“We urge the Senate to quickly take up and pass the legislation to help align labor supply with consumer demand.”
U.S. Department of Labor to change method for setting wage rates for the H-2A program
Dec. 1, 2021
By Tom Karst
The way the government calculates the H-2A program’s wage rate is changing, but perhaps for the worse for growers.
The U.S. Department of Labor is taking comments on a proposal to change the way the hourly Adverse Effect Wage Rates is determined for the H-2A program.
According to a Federal Register notice, the proposed changes will “better enable” the department to make sure employment of H-2A workers will not adversely affect the wages of workers in the U.S. Adverse effect wage rates are the minimum hourly wage rates the department has determined must be offered and paid by employers to H-2A workers and workers in corresponding employment, so that the wages of workers in the U.S. similarly employed will not be adversely affected.
The adverse effect wage rates have been widely criticized and challenged by industry advocates, who say the wage increases for H-2A guest workers are outstripping the ability of U.S. growers to pay for the labor.
The agency said the proposed changes are evenhanded.
However, Michael Marsh, president and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, said in an email that the proposed rule presents a number of problems for farmers and ranchers.
"It maintains many of the concerning aspects we saw in the Trump Rule that was enjoined by the Federal District Court," he said. "It also lacks the two-year freeze proposed by the Trump Rule that was intended to bring H-2A wages closer to market reality."
Marsh said the proposed method to calculate H-2A wages would continue to artificially manufacture an adverse effect wage rate for most occupations by using the average gross wages reported by the USDA's Farm Labor Survey.
"The average gross wage takes all reported wages paid; base wages, overtime wages, incentive wages paid such as piece rates, H-2A wages paid (which generates an echo effect into the data), as well as any bonuses (think Christmas), and divides that over the hours worked," he said.
"This completely disconnects the manufactured wage rate from the market for agricultural labor in the U.S. and adversely affects the legacy family farming operations in America."
"This proposal will likely accelerate the loss of farmworker jobs in the U.S.," Marsh said. "It not only incentivizes the offshoring of more farmworker jobs and agricultural production, but will also spur employer's search for technological solutions to farming and ranching eliminating thousands of farm jobs."
The notice of proposed rulemaking has been published in the Federal Register and has a comment period that ends Jan. 31.
