June 2019 - 5

LABOR
Are you using H-2A?
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Yes
Farms that fell short of their
required worker numbers in 2018
pursued a number of strategies to
make up the difference, including
working more with less.
" We didn't harvest at optimum
time and borrowed workers, " said
one respondent.
Some other impacts included losing
money and cutting costs. Some planted
fewer acres, dipped into savings,
worked longer hours and " did it myself
and got volunteers. "
" There is no way to make it up. It is
money lost, " lamented one respondent.
Another said: " It cost money (and
led to) a profit reduction for the
company, less taxes paid, etc. "
Some scraped by with new
approaches the best they could. " (We)
had significant production to carry
through (with) sales close to the
previous year. "
" We began a U-pick option at our
blueberry farm, " a grower said. " It
has been very successful. " One found
a unique way to generate something
out of nothing - " we made bootleg
booze, " they said.
Fully 50% of the respondents indicated
they left at least some of their crop
unharvested in the field or orchard.
In one instance, the harvest
itself was carried out, but the labor
shortage led to a " storage condition
that was compromised. "
H-2A a sketchy option
In an era where few alternatives
remain, use of the the H-2A visa
program continued to expand,
however begrudgingly.
" Many growers are hoping to go
back in time - lots of cars full of people
wanting to pick apples. Well, that ship
has sailed and is not coming back.
(There's) lots of complaining about not
The use of H-2A visa program workers continues to increase for specialty crop growers. Photos: Gary Pullano
" (I) like having strong, serious, hardenough
help - but they don't want to
bite the bullet and go (H-2A). "
Just 38 percent said they used
the program in 2017, with 62% not
pursuing that option among survey
returners. But in 2018, 53% of growers
who took the survey used H-2A
workers, while 47% said they did not.
While many H-2A users said
they experienced positive impacts
from using the visa workers - ( " I
like that I can count on them being
there. I dislike the cost. " ) - the good
experiences were balanced against an
unwieldy and burdensome process.
" We love the reliability of the labor.
The cost at times is high, but the
return per worker we have found to
justify that cost. "
working people under 60 years old. "
" (They) are dependable, hardworking
and take pride in their work. "
" It's the only way to farm, " one said.
Many found the program " reliable
but expensive. "
" (We had) good workers. (I) did not
like that we had to waste time with
people throughout the halfway mark
to interview and possibly hire. "
" (They're) mostly good workers
(but) the wages are getting too high. "
Some negative comments:
" It took 6 months and I was into the start
of harvest and it was still not approved. "
" Housing, transportation, food
shopping, laundry. It's like having a
bunch of kids to take care of. "
0%
20%
No
40%
53%
60%
80%
100%
Source: 2019 FGN Grower Survey
47%
" Workers are available, but wages
are eventually going to destroy the
family farm. "
" The workers are reliable. The
wage is way too high and out of
control. The wages have increased
50% since we started H-2A eight
years ago and our commodity prices
are flat at best. Our profits have
decreased to nearly nothing. "
" (The) peace of mind is good. Loss of
flexibility and costs are negative. (We)
should be able to share workers when
we are slow and neighbors need help. "
" If we didn't have H-2A workers, we
probably would not have been able to
get the entire crop off last year. "
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FGN | JUNE 2019 | 5
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See LABOR, page 6

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June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019