From Empire Farm & Dairy magazine
By JOE LEATHERSICH
ITHACA — A recent study at Cornell University surveyed New York’s Hispanic dairy workers about how valuable they are to the industry.
They survey aims to update a similar study done in 2005 to see how the demographics have changed.
In the newer study, 205 Hispanic dairy workers and 36 dairy farm managers gave on-farm, in-person interviews. They included workers from nine different counties, including six farms in Genesee County; eight farms in Wyoming County; and four farms in Livingston County.
The workers surveyed came from Mexico and Guatemala, with 80 percent of the workers from the former.
The total amount workers on the farms — meaning locals and immigrants — varies from four full-time employees up to 40.
But slightly less than 70 percent of farms said their Hispanic employees make up between 50 and 100 percent of their labor.
Twenty-five percent of farms said 25 to 49 percent of their labor comes from Hispanic workers; 5.6 percent said less than 25 percent of employees are Hispanic workers.
The age of Hispanic employees ranges form 16 to 77 years old, with an average age of 30.
A total of 48.8 percent of the Hispanic workers surveyed were between 22 and 30 years old. The next largest chunk was 21 percent of the workers ranging from 31 to 40; 16.6 percent are 16 to 21 years old; and the remaining 13.6 percent are 41 to 77 years old.
Most of the workers come to America — specifically New York — in their early 20s which is represented by the fact that the average age for 72 of the workers who have been in America between 2 to 5 years is about 26 years old.
Similarly, 63 of the workers who have been working 6 to 10 years have an average age of 32 years old. The trend is that the older someone is, the longer they’ve worked; not that they come to America to work later in life.
There also is not a lot of movement between farms for Hispanic workers; 60 percent say they’ve had one to two employers and 28 percent say they’ve had three to five.
Education wise, more than 50 percent reported they have between 9 and 12 years of education and another 31 percent have 6 to 8 years. Slightly more than 12 percent have 0 to 5 years of education and less than 5 percent have over 13 years.
And despite most of the workers having many years of education, there were multiple reasons why they came to America to work.
When asked their reasons for coming to the farm they work at — workers could give multiple answers — 34 percent said it was to follow friends and family while 21 percent said they could earn a higher wage.
Nearly 60 percent of Hispanic workers said “other” when asked their reason for working on that farm. Of those respondents, 8 percent said they took the work to help their family escape poverty.
As for the work itself, more than half of employers reported that milking occurs in 12-hour shifts, which the survey states comes at the request of the workers to get more hours. Nearly 90 percent of workers work six days a week, as well.
On average, workers see the amount of hours they request, which is about 67 hours per week. Only 1 percent of workers reported working less than 40 hours per week.
Workers on average received an hourly wage of $10.30, with range of $8.50 to 18.00.
Workers and employers alike were asked about benefits offered and both gave consistent answers. About 80 percent of employers cover housing costs for their employees and roughly 78 percent said they pay utilities.
About half of employers pay for cable television, internet and transportation for workers.
Another common benefit offered by employers is a bonus/incentive program — which more than 80 percent offer — and garden space, which 72 percent offer.
Despite the long hours, more than 50 percent of those questioned reported enjoying the job.
Slightly less than half of all employees said their job was not difficult and everything was good with the work. Also about half of the workers said there wasn’t anything their boss to could to improve the job and that everything was good.
Similarly, 53 percent said they were happy with their boss and used phrases such as “He’s friendly,” “treats us well,” “has a good heart,” according to the report.
More than 60 percent have plans to return to their home country.
The survey concluded by highlighting the importance of Hispanic workers to farms and specifically dairy farms.
According to the survey, U.S. dairy farmers cannot fill these jobs, which often consist of hard manual labor, with local workers and that Hispanic workers are willing and able to do the job.
It continued to say how farmers are concerned with losing their Hispanic workers because they feel it would be “difficult if not impossible,” the survey states, to complete the duties.
Because of this, U.S. dairy farmers are actively seeking immigration reform to allow current undocumented immigrants to achieve legal citizenship and to allow for a year-round guest worker program, the survey stated.
The report can be found online through Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management website.
Showing posts with label migrant farm workers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label migrant farm workers. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Monday, February 20, 2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
NY Congress Members Introduce Family Farm Relief Act
From the Watertown Daily Times:
Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, Erie County, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, Essex County, have introduced the Family Farm Relief Act of 2017, legislation to move the H-2A Agricultural Visa program from the Department of Labor to the Department of Agriculture to better meet the unique labor needs of farmers and agricultural businesses.
“The last thing our farmers need is for the federal government to make it harder for them to make ends meet,” said Collins. “Access to a willing and available labor force is absolutely critical for Western New York’s agriculture community, particularly our dairy farmers. I am proud to join my colleague Congresswoman Stefanik in introducing this common-sense legislation to streamline and improve the H-2A visa program.”
“Agriculture is the backbone of our North Country economy and I am pleased to introduce this important bill to address the labor shortages facing our farmers,” said Stefanik. “When I travel the district speaking with our farmers, I often hear about how unnecessary delays in worker visas lead to difficulty meeting production goals. This commonsense legislation simply puts the H-2A agricultural visa program in the hands of those who best understand the specific needs of our farms.”
“Immigration reform that allows for both seasonal and year round farm labor has been a longtime priority for New York Farm Bureau. For too long, the federal H2A guest visa program has been cumbersome, prone to delays and too rigid to fit the needs of both farmers and their employees,” said New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher.
The Family Farm Relief Act of 2017 takes practical measures such as allowing visa applicants to fill out H-2A applications on paper or online, requiring a user-friendly online system, and ending burdensome requirements on advertising and prevailing practice surveys.
The current H-2A visa program is unworkable, especially for the dairy farms across our nation. The H-2A visa program does not currently provide a category for year-round livestock workers, including dairy. This has caused difficulties for dairy farms that need employees year-round. This legislation addresses this oversight, by creating an H-2A category for these workers.
Additionally, the proposed law also allows farm cooperatives and other agricultural associations to apply for workers for their members, makes the program more workable for dairy and other livestock operations, and requires reporting to Congress if delays occur in the H-2A Visa application process.
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| Rep. Elise Stefanik, left, and Rep Chris Collins |
“The last thing our farmers need is for the federal government to make it harder for them to make ends meet,” said Collins. “Access to a willing and available labor force is absolutely critical for Western New York’s agriculture community, particularly our dairy farmers. I am proud to join my colleague Congresswoman Stefanik in introducing this common-sense legislation to streamline and improve the H-2A visa program.”
“Agriculture is the backbone of our North Country economy and I am pleased to introduce this important bill to address the labor shortages facing our farmers,” said Stefanik. “When I travel the district speaking with our farmers, I often hear about how unnecessary delays in worker visas lead to difficulty meeting production goals. This commonsense legislation simply puts the H-2A agricultural visa program in the hands of those who best understand the specific needs of our farms.”
“Immigration reform that allows for both seasonal and year round farm labor has been a longtime priority for New York Farm Bureau. For too long, the federal H2A guest visa program has been cumbersome, prone to delays and too rigid to fit the needs of both farmers and their employees,” said New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher.
The Family Farm Relief Act of 2017 takes practical measures such as allowing visa applicants to fill out H-2A applications on paper or online, requiring a user-friendly online system, and ending burdensome requirements on advertising and prevailing practice surveys.
The current H-2A visa program is unworkable, especially for the dairy farms across our nation. The H-2A visa program does not currently provide a category for year-round livestock workers, including dairy. This has caused difficulties for dairy farms that need employees year-round. This legislation addresses this oversight, by creating an H-2A category for these workers.
Additionally, the proposed law also allows farm cooperatives and other agricultural associations to apply for workers for their members, makes the program more workable for dairy and other livestock operations, and requires reporting to Congress if delays occur in the H-2A Visa application process.
Saturday, January 21, 2017
Proposed Bill Seeks to Improve Labor Standards for Hiring Foreign Workers on Farms
From Empire Farm & Dairy:
By BRIAN MOLONGOSKI
A new federal bill seeks to improve labor standards for hiring foreign workers at farms across the country.
Dubbed the Family Farm Relief Act of 2017, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, and U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, introduced the bill on Jan. 11.
The measure will move the H-2A Agricultural Visa program, which allows foreign entry into the county for agricultural employment, from U.S. Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Doing so will help adjust the program to meet the needs of dairy farmers who use foreign labor to maintain operations year-round.
“When I travel the district speaking with our farmers, I often hear about how unnecessary delays in worker visas lead to difficulty meeting production goals,” Stefanik said in a statement. “This common-sense legislation simply puts the H-2A agricultural visa program in the hands of those who best understand the specific needs of our farms.”
Current regulations allow farms to use the program if they seek temporary or seasonal workers. With dairy farming being a year-round business, however, foreign labor on such farms is needed on a more long-term basis.
According to the bill, foreign laborers admitted for the purpose of year-round livestock farming, particularly dairy farming, will be covered by the H-2A program for no longer than three years.
Additionally, the bill would allow visa applicants to fill out H-2A applications on paper or online, requiring a user-friendly online system and ending burdensome requirements on advertising and prevailing practice surveys.
Jay Matteson, agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency, said dairy farms in Jefferson County are largely unable to utilize the program because of its burdensome process for admitting a worker.
“Farms are always interested in trying to obtain workers from outside the country to come in legally. With H-2A, it is just not possible for them to do so,” Matteson said.
For long-term purposes, Matteson said, it would be ideal if foreign dairy farm workers could legally stay in the country for three to five years.
Matteson said many farms in the north country hire foreign employees from Mexico and Guatemala.
Sackets Harbor dairy farmer Ronald Robbins, who employs a few Hispanic workers for his dairy operation, said hiring a foreign worker involves reviewing their employment documentation. Even if paperwork seems to be in order, it is illegal to question a potential hire over whether it is truly legal for he or she to be working in the United States.
“As long as they present documentation, we are not allowed by law to question it,” he said. “We go with what we see.”
As it currently stands, Robbins said, it is “cumbersome” to go through the H-2A program for foreign employees to work longer than at least one season of farming.
Robbins said that improving the H-2A program for dairy farmers will help ensure that foreign farm employees are legally allowed to be working in the United States.
“It would give us confidence that the folks that are here, are here legally,” Robbins said.
By BRIAN MOLONGOSKI
A new federal bill seeks to improve labor standards for hiring foreign workers at farms across the country.
Dubbed the Family Farm Relief Act of 2017, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, and U.S. Rep. Chris Collins, R-Clarence, introduced the bill on Jan. 11.
The measure will move the H-2A Agricultural Visa program, which allows foreign entry into the county for agricultural employment, from U.S. Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Doing so will help adjust the program to meet the needs of dairy farmers who use foreign labor to maintain operations year-round.
“When I travel the district speaking with our farmers, I often hear about how unnecessary delays in worker visas lead to difficulty meeting production goals,” Stefanik said in a statement. “This common-sense legislation simply puts the H-2A agricultural visa program in the hands of those who best understand the specific needs of our farms.”
Current regulations allow farms to use the program if they seek temporary or seasonal workers. With dairy farming being a year-round business, however, foreign labor on such farms is needed on a more long-term basis.
According to the bill, foreign laborers admitted for the purpose of year-round livestock farming, particularly dairy farming, will be covered by the H-2A program for no longer than three years.
Additionally, the bill would allow visa applicants to fill out H-2A applications on paper or online, requiring a user-friendly online system and ending burdensome requirements on advertising and prevailing practice surveys.
Jay Matteson, agricultural coordinator for the Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency, said dairy farms in Jefferson County are largely unable to utilize the program because of its burdensome process for admitting a worker.
“Farms are always interested in trying to obtain workers from outside the country to come in legally. With H-2A, it is just not possible for them to do so,” Matteson said.
For long-term purposes, Matteson said, it would be ideal if foreign dairy farm workers could legally stay in the country for three to five years.
Matteson said many farms in the north country hire foreign employees from Mexico and Guatemala.
Sackets Harbor dairy farmer Ronald Robbins, who employs a few Hispanic workers for his dairy operation, said hiring a foreign worker involves reviewing their employment documentation. Even if paperwork seems to be in order, it is illegal to question a potential hire over whether it is truly legal for he or she to be working in the United States.
“As long as they present documentation, we are not allowed by law to question it,” he said. “We go with what we see.”
As it currently stands, Robbins said, it is “cumbersome” to go through the H-2A program for foreign employees to work longer than at least one season of farming.
Robbins said that improving the H-2A program for dairy farmers will help ensure that foreign farm employees are legally allowed to be working in the United States.
“It would give us confidence that the folks that are here, are here legally,” Robbins said.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
New York Farmers Interviewed on CNN
Check out this https://www.facebook.com/cnn/videos/10154510475136509/?fref=nf from CNN featuring two New York farmers.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
USDA to Begin Survey on Labor
During the second half of April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will conduct its biannual Agricultural Labor Survey.
The survey will collect information about hired labor from more than 1450 northeastern farmers and ranchers.
“The beginning of the growing season is usually the perfect time to look at farm labor,” said King Whetstone, Director of the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office. “The data that farm operators provide through NASS’s Agricultural Labor Survey allows northeastern state governments and federal policy-makers to establish labor policies based on accurate information and help ensure farmers can get sufficient hired labor for their operations.”
USDA and the Department of Labor will use statistics gathered in the Agricultural Labor Survey to help establish minimum wage rates for agricultural workers, administer farm labor recruitment and placement service programs, and assist legislators in determining labor policies.
In the survey, NASS asks participants to answer a variety of questions about hired farm labor on their operations, including total number of hired farm workers, the average hours worked, and wage rates paid for the weeks of January 11-17 and April 12-18. For their convenience, survey participants have the option to respond online.
“Due to seasonal variation and despite collecting farm labor data twice a year, we publish data on a quarterly basis,” Whetstone said. “This approach helps us ensure that anyone using our data can perform more accurate analyses.”
NASS will compile, analyze and publish survey results in the Farm Labor report, to be released on May 21. All information NASS collects in this survey will be kept strictly confidential, as required by federal law. This and all other NASS reports are available online at www.nass.usda.gov.
For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at (800) 498-1518.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Documentary on Migrant Women Farmworkers to be Shown March 2
An award-winning documentary that follows the lives of five women migrant farmworkers in Wayne County will be shown Sunday, March 2 in Central Square.
"After I Pick the Fruit: The Lives of Migrant Women," by Nancy Ghertner, will be screened at 12:30 p.m. at First Universalist Society of Central Square, 3243 Fulton Ave. (state Route 49 just west of US Route 11). Ghertner will speak after the 93-minute screening.
The film begins and ends in the apple orchards around Sodus, but includes footage shot in Chilapa de Diaz, Mexico; at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, the orange groves of Florida, the Capitol Building in Albany and the women's homes when the work day is done. Ghertner spent 10 years filming the women.
Sunday's program is co-sponsored by the Workers' Center of Central New York, based in Syracuse.
"After I Pick the Fruit" follows the women as they struggle to fulfill their roles as workers, wives, mothers and members of an isolated community that's almost invisible to the outside world. It is an intensely personal film, born of friendships between Ghertner and each of the five women, who ask to be identified only as Soledad, Vierge, Maria, Elisa and Lorena.
The Bush Administration's post-9/11 crackdown on illegal immigration is pivotal. Three of the women are undocumented. Ghertner shows how raids in 2006 affect the women, their families, farmers and residents in and around Sodus.
"I was inspired to make the film after seeing women working in the fields and orchards near my hometown of Sodus," Ghertner says on her website, www.afteripickthefruit.com. "I wanted to meet them, to understand how they lived and what happened -- after they picked the fruit."
Once she got to know the women, Ghertner says she was driven "to make the invisible visible" and raise awareness about the human price of getting fresh fruit to the supermarket.
The film earned an award of excellence at the 2012 International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration, and Equality. It received a documentary award at the Southern Appalachian International Film Festival.
In 2012, "After I Pick the Fruit" was an official selection for both the Reel to Reel International Film Festival and the Twin Cities Film Fest.
Ghertner will have DVDs available for purchase after the Central Square screening. Proceeds, less production costs, benefit the Las Mujeres Divinas Scholarship Fund, which supports farmworker women and their children's education.
Donations in support of the Workers' Center of Central New York also will be accepted, although the program is free. The Workers' Center advocates and empowers low-wage and vulnerable workers, including farmworkers.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Money Available to Provide Safe Housing for Farm Workers
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing nearly $40 million for housing for farmworkers and their families.
Under the Farm Labor Housing Program, loans and grants are provided to farmers, farmers associations, family farm corporations, Indian tribes, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and farmworkers associations to develop or improve multi-family housing facilities for farmworkers and their families.
For example, USDA provided Bienestar, a nonprofit organization in Hillsboro, Ore., a grant and loan to construct a 24-unit farmworker apartment complex in Forest Grove, Ore. The complex opened in December 2012. In addition to providing new, modern two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments for residents, the facility also provides services such as English as a Second Language tutoring, and classes on computers, financial literacy, and nutrition.
Wednesday's announcement makes available about $30 million in loans, $8.5 million in grants, and $951,000 in rental assistance. Applications for Farm Labor Housing assistance are due Sept..
More information about how to apply is available in the Aug. 14, 2013 Federal Register www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Do You Know Where Your Tomatoes Come From?
Check out this story and question and answer section by http://billmoyers.com/2012/07/20/do-you-know-where-your-tomatoes-come-from/?fb_action_ids=10151509023671892&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.Ued0_ZoxLOc.like&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210151509023671892%22%3A10150962548132196}&action_type_map={%2210151509023671892%22%3A%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map={%2210151509023671892%22%3A%22.Ued0_ZoxLOc.like%22} clicking on this link.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Opinion Against Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act
The Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act passes a couple of weeks ago in the state Assembly. Mostly Downstate and NYC assembly members voted in favor of it.
Assembly members from Central New York -- Bill Magee, William Magnarelli, Al Stirpe, Claudia Tenney, Will Barclay, Bob Oaks, Tony Brindisi, Gary Finch, Brian Kolb and Marc Butler -- voted against the proposal. Assemblyman Sam Roberts of Syracuse and Barbara Lifton of Ithaca voted in favor of it.
The bill grants collective bargaining rights to farm laborers, requires employers of farm laborers to allow at least 24 hours of consecutive rest each week, provide for an eight-hour work day for farm laborers, requires overtime rate of one and a half times the normal rate and makes provisions of unemployment insurance law applicable to farm laborers.
Farmers were against the law and New York Farm Bureau spoke in their defense, stating:
An overwhelming majority of farm employees, who routinely return to the very same farms every year to make a good wage and receive fair treatment, are not the ones demanding changes to the law that will restrict their hours and limit new opportunities. This 25 plus year old bill ignores the fact that numerous state and federal regulations already exist that mandate fair labor, health and safety standards, farm worker agreements and employee protections, all of which New York Farm Bureau supports. Farmers have never asked to be exempted from basic laws which govern all New York employees, such as the payment of minimum wage requirements, whistleblower protections, anti-human trafficking statutes and workplace harassment.
Go to http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20130602/OPINION02/706029975 this link to read an opinion piece about the law.
Assembly members from Central New York -- Bill Magee, William Magnarelli, Al Stirpe, Claudia Tenney, Will Barclay, Bob Oaks, Tony Brindisi, Gary Finch, Brian Kolb and Marc Butler -- voted against the proposal. Assemblyman Sam Roberts of Syracuse and Barbara Lifton of Ithaca voted in favor of it.
The bill grants collective bargaining rights to farm laborers, requires employers of farm laborers to allow at least 24 hours of consecutive rest each week, provide for an eight-hour work day for farm laborers, requires overtime rate of one and a half times the normal rate and makes provisions of unemployment insurance law applicable to farm laborers.
Farmers were against the law and New York Farm Bureau spoke in their defense, stating:
An overwhelming majority of farm employees, who routinely return to the very same farms every year to make a good wage and receive fair treatment, are not the ones demanding changes to the law that will restrict their hours and limit new opportunities. This 25 plus year old bill ignores the fact that numerous state and federal regulations already exist that mandate fair labor, health and safety standards, farm worker agreements and employee protections, all of which New York Farm Bureau supports. Farmers have never asked to be exempted from basic laws which govern all New York employees, such as the payment of minimum wage requirements, whistleblower protections, anti-human trafficking statutes and workplace harassment.
Go to http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20130602/OPINION02/706029975 this link to read an opinion piece about the law.
Monday, May 13, 2013
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