- American farmers have been complaining for decades about labor shortages driven by immigration rules.
- While corn, cotton, rice, wheat and soybean farming have become largely mechanized, high-value labor-intensive crops such as strawberries still rely on manual labor.
- Farms complain that the US government doesn’t issue enough H-2A temporary work visas.
- Half of all US farm laborers are undocumented immigrants (mostly Mexican).
- Farms need more workers to replace aging staff (50% over 35, up from 33% in 2000).
- Without changes, more farms will probably relocate to Mexico.
U.S. Farms Can’t Compete Without Foreign Workers
(06/01/2018)
