California: Drought and Jobs, Budget
The debate over the loss of San Joaquin Valley farm jobs due to the drought dominated farm labor discussions in summer 2009. Up to 250,000 acres on

Meat, Poultry
Beef. Brazilian-based JBS bought Swift in 2007; Swift's financial condition deteriorated after December 2006 raids at six plants that removed 1,200

Income, Poverty, Health Data
The US Census Bureau released 2008 income, poverty, and health insurance data in September 2009. Real median household income for the 117.2 million

California: Drought, Duroville, Budget
The Sacramento-based Latino Water Coalition drew several thousand people for a mid-April 2009 march from Mendota to Firebaugh and on to the San Luis

Agriprocessors, Greeley, Poultry
The immigration raid at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa continues to reverberate among residents and in court. The US Supreme Court on May 4, 2009

Welfare, Farm Income
The number of Americans receiving cash welfare assistance rose in 2009 for the first time since welfare reform was enacted in 1996. Among the 30

Foreign-Born: People, Workers
People. The American Community Survey (www.census.gov/acs/www) estimated there were 38.1 million foreign-born US residents in 2007; 12.6 percent of

California: Drought, Housing, Population
California is in its third year of drought. In normal years, about six million acre-feet of water are released from dams constructed by the federal

Midwest: Meat and Migrants
Agriprocessors. On May 12, 2008, immigration agents raided the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, arresting 389 mostly

California: Education, Housing, Air
California's unemployment rate was 8.4 percent in November 2008, the third-highest rate in the US. Most San Joaquin Valley counties had unemployment

Agriprocessors, JBS-Swift, Smithfield
A May 12, 2008 ICE raid at Agriprocessors in Postville in northeastern Iowa resulted in the arrest of 389 workers. Within eight days, 302 of the

Rural Development
About 50 million Americans live in the 2,051 nonmetro counties, those outside commuting distance of urbanized areas with at least 50,000 people.

California: San Joaquin Valley
The Census reported that Hispanics were 51 percent of the residents of the eight-county San Joaquin Valley on July 1, 2007. In Tulare, Merced and

Meat: Agriprocessors, Tyson, JBS
In FY07, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency arrested 4,940 migrants in workplace raids and made 863 criminal arrests. In FY08, ICE

San Joaquin Valley, Duroville
The population of the eight-county San Joaquin Valley, almost seven million in 2006, increased faster between 1985 and 2006, an average of 2.5

Meat: Swift, AgriProcessors, Smithfield
Swift. On December 12, 2006, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency mounted its largest-ever workplace raid, targeting Swift

Rural America
Rural America was helped and hurt by the sharp increase in commodity and energy prices in 2008. Farmers' net incomes rose with commodity prices,

California: Jobs, Housing
In 2003, the Regional Jobs Initiative announced plans to add 30,000 jobs in Fresno and Madera counties paying at least $30,000 a year.

Meat: Swift, Integration
The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law held a hearing February 13, 2008 on the tactics used by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to raid six Swift & Co. meat processing plants on December 12, 2006.

Rural People and Jobs
Rural America has 80 percent of US land and 17 percent of US residents, 50 million.

California: Jobs, Housing, Budget
Jobs. Fresno county's unemployment rate reached nine percent in December 2007, up from 7.5 percent; California's rate was 5.6 percent. Fresno's

Meat and Migrants
The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses on January 3, 2008 prompted reporting on immigration, a hot topic for both Democrats and Republicans in the

Rural Development, Doctors
USDA's Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, which seeks to foster development by backing loans in rural areas, makes loans of up to $25

Hispanics, Health
Hispanics were 16 percent of the US metro population in 2005, but only six percent of the nonmetro population. The Hispanic population increased 20

California Ag: Housing, Air
Housing. In the late 1990s, Riverside county cracked down on illegal mobile home parks that were home to many farm workers, saying they violated

Texas, Kansas, Iowa
The New York Times on August 27, 2007 profiled the six counties of the Rio Grande Valley that are home to 400,000 Latinos living in colonias, which

Minimum Wage
On July 24, 2007, the federal minimum wage rose from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. It will rise again to $6.55 in July 2008, and to $7.25 in July 2009.

San Joaquin Valley: Jobs, Freeze, Air
The Sacramento Bee on May 1, 2007 reviewed the housing boom and bust in Merced county, emphasizing that the boom created thousands of construction

Midwest: Meat, New Frontiers
Cargill Meat Solutions, the second-largest beef-packer (after Tyson, which bought IBP), is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas (Cargill is headquartered

Minimum Wages, UI, Mobility
The federal minimum wage rose from $5.15 to $5.85 on July 24, 2007, two months after President Bush signed the Iraq war bill into law. The federal

California: Freeze, New Cities
Freeze. California citrus and vegetable crops were devastated by a five-night freeze from January 11 to 17, 2007. Losses of over $1.3 billion,

Swift Fallout, Poultry Raid
Swift Fallout. On December 12, 2006, Immigration and Customs Enforcement mounted its largest-ever workplace raid, targeting six plants owned by Swift

States, Cities
States, cities and private industries are moving in different directions to deal with unauthorized migrants. States such as Arizona and cities such

Minimum Wages, Poverty
The Senate voted 94-3 on February 1, 2007 to increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85 within 60 days of enactment, and to $6.55 in 2008

Immigration Reform, Agriculture, and Rural Communities conference, June 13-14, 2007
We are pleased to announce the Immigration Reform, Agriculture, and Rural Communities conference June 13-14, 2007 at UC-DC in Washington DC.

San Joaquin Valley: Poverty, Housing, Air
The Economist on December 16, 2006 noted that the San Joaquin Valley has about the same percentage of residents in poverty as the Central Appalachian

Midwest: Migrants and Meat
The Dallas Morning News reported on November 19-21, 2006 that 10 to 20 percent of workers employed in meatpacking plants are injured each year, but

Minimum Wages, Rural Employment
Democratic control of Congress is expected to result in an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has been $5.15 an hour since 1997, to $7.25 an

Salinas, San Joaquin Valley
Salinas. The Wall Street Journal on August 26, 2006 reported on housing issues in Monterey County, emphasizing the clash between environmentalists

Georgia, Meat, Fish
Southern states have many small counties, which makes tracking the changing face of their populations easier in census data. The number of Hispanics

Income, Wages, Health, Poverty
The median income of U.S. households was $46,326 in 2005, below the 2000 level, and 12.6 percent or 37 million Americans were poor, with incomes

Hispanics, Rural Development
The Hispanic population of nonmetro or rural America doubled between 1980 and 2000, from 1.4 million to 2.7 million of 46 million rural residents.

California, San Joaquin: Partnership, Housing
If California's San Joaquin Valley were a state, it would rank first in farm sales and 48th in per capita income. In 2001, per capita income in the

Midwest, Southeast
The Des Moines Register in April 2006 ran a series of articles about immigration. Several focused on the meatpackers who set the migration of

Northwest: Fox Visit
Mexican President Vicente Fox came to the US in May 2006, touring the only Hispanic-owned apple warehouse in Washington, G&G Orchards. Rene Garcia

Census: Nonmetro America
In 2004, about 17 percent of US residents, 50 million people, and 75 percent of US land area, was classified as nonmetropolitan. Some 2,052 of the

San Joaquin Valley
Joel Kotkin and William Frey call the Central Valley the "third California" and assert that the share of Californians in "inland California" will

Northeast, Southeast, RICO
Northeast. Many of the 2,500 Somali refugees in Lewiston, Maine, which has 36,000 people, are having trouble finding jobs; at least half are

San Joaquin Valley: New Appalachia?
The Congressional Research Service released a 353-page report in December 2005 that found per capita income in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley

Midwest, Southeast
Leaders of Worthington, a city of 11,000 in southwest Minnesota, complained to the governor about unauthorized workers who used false documents to

California: Population, Budget
About 500,000 California residents left the state in 2004, while 400,000 US residents of other states moved to California. Many of those leaving

Polls, Food Stamps
Opinion polls find that rural or nonmetro residents are more likely to agree that there are too many immigrants in the US, and that immigrants take

San Joaquin Valley, Napa
The Central Valley's unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent in June 2005, narrowing the gap from the usual five-percent-higher-than-the-statewide-rate

Census: Population, Poverty
Between April 2000 and July 2004, the US population rose from 281 million to 294 million, including 198 million whites, 41 million Hispanics, 39

Meat and Migrants
US meat production involves fewer and larger operations, often in remote areas, raising questions about the labor and community impacts of an

Meat and Migrants
The $40 billion value-added slaughtering and processing industry turns cattle, hogs, sheep and poultry into meat and other products on "dis-assembly

Hispanics and Rural Poverty
Traditional manufacturing industries in rural America, including meat processing and carpet manufacturing, increasingly employ Hispanic immigrants.

San Joaquin Valley: Tulare, Napa
If the seven San Joaquin Valley counties of Fresno, Kings, Merced, Kern, Madera, Stanislaus and Tulare were a separate state, the "San Joaquin Valley

San Joaquin Valley, California
The 19-county Central Valley has a growing population despite lagging economic growth, according to a study released by the Great Valley Center in

California: Raisins, Parlier
Harvesting 125,000 to 150,000 acres of raisin grapes around Fresno, California has traditionally been considered the most labor-intensive activity in

Rural America
The US has 3,141 counties, and they are divided into three groups based on population density and links to urban areas. Metropolitan Statistical

Mexicans Spreading Out
As Mexican migrants spread throughout the US, filling jobs in farm-related industries, construction and services, they form networks linking rural America to rural Mexico.

Central Valley: Jobs, Housing, Air
California's Central Valley, which stretches 450 miles from Bakersfield in the south to Redding in the North, has five of the state's 15 largest

Coastal California: Housing
Napa voters in 2002 approved Measure L, which allowed farm worker housing to be constructed on land zoned for agricultural purposes outside the

Southeast, Midwest
Tobacco. Southeastern tobacco farmers are the largest employers of H-2A guest workers, but the number of migrants could fall sharply because of a

Rural-Nonmetro
The Census defines rural as places with fewer than 2,500 residents. Many residents of towns with 3,000 people consider themselves to be rural, but

California: Welfare, Housing, Napa
Welfare rolls fell in the San Joaquin Valley and Fresno county even though unemployment rates remained high, although the decrease in the number of

Midwest, Southeast: Tobacco
Mexican immigrants are changing the face of many small towns and cities across the Midwest and southeast. The Journal of Employee Assistance in

Census: Poverty, Incomes
The Census Bureau released its annual report on poverty, income and health insurance in August 2004, reporting that 36 million or 12.5 percent of US

California: San Joaquin Valley, Refugees
California had a labor force of 17.5 million in 2003, including 16.3 million employed workers and 1.2 million unemployed workers, for an average

California: Housing, Budget
Housing. The San Joaquin Valley is attracting "housing equity refugees" from the Bay Area and southern California, people in coastal areas whose

Migrants, Meat and Poultry
Laotian immigrants are reportedly buying small poultry farms in the southeastern US, including 75 who bought farms in northwest Arkansas in 2003. A

Census, Welfare
California adult recipients of cash assistance under CalWORKS (the name for TANF in California) began reaching their five-year time limit for

Census, Nonmetro
The US Census Bureau released new projections that foresee the number of US residents rising from 282 million in 2000 to 420 million in 2050. In

California: Agricultural Areas
San Joaquin Valley. The problems of the San Joaquin Valley are well known: high unemployment; poverty; bad air quality; and high teen-pregnancy and

Midwest, Southeast
The Los Angeles Times on February 16, 2004 profiled six brothers from Los Cerritos, Michoacan who migrated to Oxnard, California to pick strawberries

California: Welfare, Housing, Budget
Welfare rolls have declined in the San Joaquin Valley, but unemployment remains high. In Fresno county, 22,930 families receive CalWORKs cash

Midwest: Demographic Change
Copley News Service on November 20, 2003 profiled Beardstown, Illinois, a city of 7,000 famous for the Beardstown Ladies Investment Club.

Meat, Poultry, Tobacco
Iowa gained more population from California than from any other state during 1990s: 18,287 people moved to Iowa from California, while 12,194 left

California San Joaquin Valley: Jobs, Air, Politics
The Fresno Bee on September 7, 2003 ran a series of articles on the "jobs crisis" in the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno and Tulare counties, the two

California: Teens, Air, Housing, Budget
The San Joaquin Valley has a teen birth rate that is double the state average, 95 births per thousand 15- to 19-year old girls in 2000, compared to

Education, Health, Welfare
Education. Should unauthorized children who graduate from US high schools be eligible for financial aid and be treated as in-state residents at

Meat and Poultry
Migrants are increasing their share of employment in the US meatpacking industry, and some packing plants are providing more services to

Census, Licenses, Taxes
The US had 288.4 million residents in July 2002. The US population was 70.1 percent non-Hispanic white; 12.7 percent Hispanic (38.8 million); 12.3

INS to DHS, Border
The Immigration and Naturalization Service went out of business on March 1, 2003. Its functions were moved to the Department of Homeland Security

US: Employment, Unauthorized, Census
The US unemployment rate was six percent in December 2002, 5.7 percent in January 2003, and 5.8 percent in February.

Southeast: Migrants
Georgetown, Delaware has only about 6,000 residents, but they include an ever-increasing number of Hispanics

Midwest: Meat Packing
Many cities that are approached by meatpackers are reluctant to allow them to establish businesses

California: Welfare, Health, Budget
Welfare recipients who "time out" after five years of cash assistance lose the portion of the monthly cash payment meant for adults

California Politics, Housing, Welfare, Budget
Voters in California went to the polls on November 5, 2002 and elected Democrats to virtually all statewide offices- Democrats also control the

Southeast, Midwest
Dalton, the carpet capital of the world in northwestern Georgia, attracted Mexican immigrants in the 1990s to staff carpet factories. Gangs and

Population
Hispanics are the largest US minority group. In July 2001, there were 37 million Hispanics and 36 million Blacks, plus 196 million non-Hispanic

California: Housing, Budget
The income-housing gap is widening in California, as housing prices climb faster than earnings. The National Low Income Housing Coalition released a

Midwest: Poultry, Population
Poultry firms require workers to be dressed in protective gear when the production line starts running, but in the past they did not pay workers for

Rural Welfare Reform
The US Department of Agriculture considers 535 of the 2,276 nonmetro counties to have persistent rural poverty, which is defined as nonmetro counties

Blacks: Migration, USDA
One of the world's "Great Migrations" occurred in the US between 1920 and 1970, when southern Blacks left in large numbers. Until the Civil War and

Meat and Poultry
Many towns in the Midwest and southeast have had their populations transformed by the hiring decisions of a large local employer. For example, in

California: San Joaquin Valley Jobs
The San Joaquin Valley has persisting high unemployment rates. Should jobs be brought to the jobless workers in the San Joaquin Valley, or should

California: Census Housing
Detailed "long-form" census data--53 questions from one in six US households--were released for California in May 2002. Some 12.4 million residents

California: Salinas, Watsonville
Census 2000 data indicate that immigration continued to change the socio-demographic face of the city of Salinas, California, during the 1990s. The

SJV, Napa, San Diego: Housing
Overcrowding is usually considered an urban, not a rural problem. The Los Angeles Times on February 4, 2002 profiled Lost Hills, California, an

Driver's Licenses 245(i)
Since September 11, 2001, most states have made it harder for non-citizens to obtain driver's licenses. The major changes include: (1) requiring

Welfare, States
A higher percentage of immigrants than US-born residents receive cash welfare in the US, but the difference narrowed in the 1990s, largely because

Steinbeck at 100
John Steinbeck was born February 27, 1902 in Salinas, California. There were many celebrations of the life of the author of "The Grapes of Wrath"

Agricultural Calfornia
Tulare county is included in the American Community Survey. In November 2001, a year ahead of planned detailed data collected from one in six

Midwest: Meat and Poultry
Governing Magazine's January 2002 issue includes an article that describes attracting immigrants to Iowa meatpacking plants as an economic

California: San Joaquin Valley, Klamath
Some 90 rural and agricultural areas are expected to apply for two federal empowerment zone designations that will be made by USDA in 2002. In

Midwest, Southeast
Democratic Governor Tom Vilsack designated three model cities to welcome immigrants, offering Mason City, Marshalltown and Fort Dodge $50,000 grants

Welfare Reform: Agricultural California
California's welfare caseload was 656,544 in March 1990, peaked in March 1995 at 932,345 cases, and then fell 39 percent to 567,549 cases in March

California: San Joaquin, Imperial, Coast
California Governor Gray Davis announced a "Buy California" program on June 1 2001. The goal of the $5 million program is to persuade consumers to

Population, Poultry, Meat
During the 1990s, 676 of the 3,141 US counties lost population (other sources report there are 3,077 US counties). Most of the counties losing

Census: Changing Face
The changing face of rural America is one of the most dramatic results of the April 1, 2000 census (http://www.census.gov/). In many areas of the US that

Poultry, Meatpacking Labor
The US Department of Labor in January 2001 said that a February-August 2000 survey of 51 of the 174 US poultry processing plants by its Wage and Hour

San Joaquin Valley: Census, Jobs, Tulare
California had 33.9 million residents in April 2000, and for the first time, non-Hispanic whites were not a majority of the state's residents; whites

California: Welfare
The number of welfare cases in California fell 40 percent, from 925,000 in 1995 to 555,000 in 2000. Among cash welfare recipients in 2000: 44

San Joaquin: Elections, Jobs, Poverty
Actor Alan Autry, a.k.a. Bubba, the fictional good-old-boy cop who played alongside Carroll O'Connor in the TV series "In the Heat of the Night," was

Vanguard and Meat Packing
Operation Vanguard remained on hold in Nebraska and Iowa in summer 2000, waiting for INS headquarters to grant permission to continue and expand the

San Joaquin Valley: Jobs, Welfare
California's unemployment rate was five percent in August 2000. Employment increased by 14,500, down from 47,000 new jobs, including 33,000 private

Napa: Wine, Vineyards, Housing
Napa is one of the smallest but best known of California's 58 counties, with 123,000 residents in 1999 and a projected 158,000 by 2020; about 18

California: Land, Water, Processors
The California Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (http://www.calasfmra.com/) released its report on land prices

Meat: Midwest, Southeast
In 1999, the INS in Omaha subpoenaed records from 111 meatpacking plants in Nebraska, compared employee I-9 information against SSA and INS records,

Meat, Poultry and Migrants
There were about 1.7 million employees employed in food and kindred products manufacturing, SIC code 20, in 1999; employment in this industry has

Central Valley Metropolitics
The Great Valley Center commissioned a report that mapped a variety of population and economic data to illustrate the fact that the Central Valley-

California: Rural Welfare
The California Department of Social Services in 1999-2000 supported a one-year demonstration project, the Consortium for Rural and Agricultural Human

Operation Vanguard, Poultry
The INS in 1998-99 devised a new way to discourage Midwestern meatpackers from hiring unauthorized workers without disrupting production or

California: The Rural Job Gap
Governor Gray Davis recently noted that, if the eight counties from San Joaquin to Kern were a separate state, their $14.5 billion in agricultural

California: San Joaquin Development
There were two reports issued in January 2000 on the San Joaquin Valley, with over three million residents and $13 billion in annual farm sales,

Rural California: Welfare and Jobs
There has been a remarkable drop in the number of adults receiving cash welfare assistance in the San Joaquin Valley. In Fresno county, which

Immigration: Meat and Poultry
In November 1999 profiled Georgetown, Delaware and its poultry industry. The Delmarva peninsula—southern Delaware and the eastern shores of

Central Valley Economy
California Governor Gray Davis held his first Central Valley economic summit in Fresno on November 30, 1999. Davis noted that if the eight-county

California: Welfare and Farm Jobs
California's Central Valley, 430 miles long and up to 75 miles wide, covers nearly fifteen million acres, about the size of England. The Central

Meat and Poultry
The INS in 1998-99 devised new ways of discouraging US employers from hiring unauthorized workers without disrupting production or bothering US

Hispanics, Poverty, Southeast
The Census Bureau reported that there were 25.2 million foreign-born residents of the US on July 1, 1998—making them 9.3 percent of US

Operation Vanguard, IBP
Nebraska's congressional delegation met with the INS in May and June 1999 to complain about the impact of Operation Vanguard on the state's

Welfare Reform: Rural California
The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PL 104-193) ended welfare as a federal entitlement, limited most

California's Central Valley
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development surveyed 539 US cities and reported that many San Joaquin Valley cities have high

Mid-Atlantic: Poultry
The poultry industry on the Delmarva peninsula has become increasingly dependent on immigrant workers. Mountaire Farms Inc., for instance,

New England
Federal and state governments as well as private landowners hire independent contractors to plant seedlings in areas being re-forested: two Maine

Southeast: Appalachia/Black Farmers
President Clinton became the first President to visit Appalachia in 34 years when he toured Kentucky in July 1999. Since 1965, the

California: Citrus Freeze Effects
The December 20-28, 1998 freeze caused an estimated $700 million in damage to California crops, primarily navel oranges in the San Joaquin

Rural Housing
The year 1999 may be a watershed for rural and farm worker housing. In Washington state, a compromise that lets short-season farm workers live in

Midwest: Hispanic Immigrants
The INS is using Operation Vanguard to eliminate illegal workers from the meatpacking industry by subpoenaing and comparing I-9 information with

California: Freeze, Welfare, Housing
The lemon and navel orange crops in the San Joaquin Valley were severely damaged by freezes on December 21-22, 1998; losses were put at $634

Midwest, IBP, Rogers, Subsidies
The INS, which estimates that one-fourth of the 24,000 employees in 103 meat packing plants in Nebraska are not authorized to work in the US,

Southeast: North Carolina, Kentucky
There were 150,000 Hispanics in North Carolina in 1997, making them two percent of the state's residents, according to the US Census. Other

Census: Hispanics Spread Out
On September 4, 1998 the US Census released population estimates for states and counties. There were 268 million residents in 1997, including 221

California: Welfare, Development, Options
The San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of reports in mid-October that emphasized that the number of poor residents is increasing alongside

Farm Worker Housing
It has been increasingly difficult to find adequate and affordable housing for workers who move into rural areas to fill seasonal farm jobs.

California: Central Valley
On May 27-28, 1998, about 250 people attended a "new thinking for a big valley" conference in Sacramento. There was agreement on

Northeast: Poultry, Eggs
Georgetown, Delaware was profiled in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 29, 1998. Founded in 1792, Georgetown had 4,300 residents in the 1990 Census

Southeast: Latinos, Enforcement
Many southeastern newspapers are publishing articles on the changing face of their state's population. The Atlanta Journal on April 19, 1998 ran

MidwestL Meatpacking
ConAgra Inc. agreed in April 1998 to pay $223,000 in fines and other costs for knowingly hiring illegal aliens in Glasgow, Kentucky in 1994.

Meat and Poultry
The General Accounting Office released a report in March 1998 on changes in communities in Nebraska and Iowa that had large meatpacking

Food Stamps
Congress delayed a vote on the Agriculture Research Conference report until after April 20, 1998. The bill includes $818 million over five years

California: Poverty Amid Prosperity
On March 24, 1998, about 40 people participated in a seminar at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. to discuss the policy implications of

Foreign-born Residents; Shifts
Foreign-born Residents. The US had almost 26 million foreign-born residents in 1997, and one-third of these foreign-born residents had

Welfare to Work; Housing
The Ag Labor Network brings together the major grower organizations in the Central Valley of California to coordinate the efforts of farmers and

Minority Farmers
About 1.2 million or two-thirds of US farms have annual sales of $20,000 or less, and they produce about four percent of total farm sales. However,

Welfare Reform and Farm Labor
A welfare reform and farmworkers conference, the CAL-Work Summit, was held December 5, 1997 in Fresno, California. There were many presentations on

Midwest: Meat/Poultry Processing
The Gazette of Cedar Rapids ran a series of stories on immigration in the Cedar Rapids area in November 1997, noting that in FY97, the INS

Southeast: Hispanics, Tobacco
Hispanics in North Carolina/Georgia. In November 1997, 10 farm workers were murdered in North Carolina and Tennessee. As Hispanics move into

UFW: No Strawberry Elections
The UFW announced in October 1997 that it would request no ALRB-sponsored elections of California strawberries workers in 1997. The UFW said it

Poverty Amid Prosperity
"Poverty Amid Prosperity: Immigration and the Changing Face of Rural California," is a six-chapter book that summarizes the papers presented at

Welfare Reform in Rural America
On September 5, 1997, county welfare directors sponsored a meeting on welfare reform and agriculture in Bakersfield, California. The motivation for

Immigrants and Rural America
According to University of Michigan researchers, the new "rural renaissance" appears to be largely a domestic migration phenomenon. Between 1990

Farm Worker Housing
The dispute in the state of Washington over farm worker housing standards for very short season crops such as cherries continues. A 1997 effort to

Welfare Reform and Rural America
Some of the highest rates of welfare dependency are in the agricultural counties of California, where there are also farmers who complain of labor

Rural Housing Isssues
It has often been difficult to find adequate and affordable housing for workers who move into rural areas. In agriculture, where the demand for

Rural America Grapples with Diversity
Around the US, there are special reports on the changing composition of rural populations. Unlike urban areas, in many cases a single employer or

INS: Rural Employers Verify
About 1,000 US employers are participating in the INS's Employment Verification Pilot system, which involves employers sending I-9 information on

Mexicans Spread Out
There are almost seven million Mexican-born US residents, making Mexicans almost 30 percent of US immigrants, up sharply from seven percent in 1970.

Florida Freezes; West Floods
Florida farmers lost an estimated $300 million in fruits and vegetables when temperatures unexpectedly dipped below freezing on January 18-19, 1997.

Native Americans
There are 557 federally recognized Native American tribes in the US, with 2.2 million members in 1990, up from 827,000 in 1970. The increased number

Southeast: Mexican Migrants on the Chicken Trail
The Los Angeles Times on November 10-12, 1996 ran a three-part story on "the chicken trail" -- the recruitment of Latino poultry workers along the

Midwest: Hispanics Accuse Police
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee sued the Ohio highway patrol in federal court, arguing that the highway patrol stops Hispanics and asks them

Mexicans to Alaska, Migrant Miners to Nevada
High-paying jobs are luring Mexicans to Alaska. Since 1980, Alaska's Hispanic population has nearly tripled from 9,000 to 25,000. Hispanics now

Water Problems in California
On July 28, 1996, the GAO released a report that showed that the US government had spent $22 billion on water projects in 17 western states, that

Minimum Wages and Poverty
The federal minimum wage went from $4.25 to $4.75 on October 1, 1996 and is scheduled to rise to $5.15 on September 1, 1997. An "opportunity wage"

Immigrants in Rural California
The San Diego Union-Tribune ran feature stories on September 22-23 that explored immigrant integration in Mecca, California, a farm worker town of

Immigrants in Midwestern Meatpacking
The cover story of the September 23, 1996 US News & World Report, "The New Jungle," focused on the use of immigrant workers in Iowa's meatpacking

Latinos in Southern Poultry
The Hispanic population in the South grew from 4.3 million to 6.5 million between 1980 and 1990. The rising number of Hispanics is changing

Latinos in the Northeast
The New York Times on September 30 included a lengthy story on immigrants to the US who bypass central cities and settle in suburbs. Haverstraw, New

Rural Renaissance?
About 75 percent of US rural counties added population between 1990 and 1995, versus 45 percent in the 1980s. The US has about 3,100 counties, and

Hispanic HOusing Discrimination
The US Justice Department sued Waukegan, Illinois over a housing ordinance the government alleges was enacted and enforced to limit the number of

Latinos Surge in Midwest
Many observers predict that the sharpest US debates over immigration and integration will shift in the 1990s from Western states such as California

Immigration and Poultry Processing
Poultry processing plants are another high-turnover industry that wants to participate in the INS program that permits employers to verify the

Texas: Drought and Poultry Workers
With Texas suffering from its worst drought in decades, migrant workers are struggling to earn a living. Thousands of migrant workers have lost

California: Watsonville Struggles; Immigration is debated
Watsonville, once proclaimed the "Frozen Food Capital of the World," is losing jobs to Mexico and facing social pressures from continuing

Hispanic Employment
Historically, the African-American unemployment rate has been about twice the white rate, and the Hispanic unemployment rate has been closer to the

Labor Management in Ag: Cultivating Personnel Productivity. Berkeley US APMP Publication.
This book reviews cost-efficient ways of managing agricultural labor, covering employee selection, wage structures, incentive pay, discipline and

The Latinization of Rural America
Newspapers report that more and more Mexican and Central American immigrants are making their way from California, Texas, and Florida to farm and

Farmers, Meat Packers, and Rural Communities
The meatpacking industry increasingly relies on immigrant workers, and these workers are transforming the midwestern rural communities in which

Watsonville/Santa Paula, California
Watsonville, California has been hard hit by the closure of food processors who froze vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower. In February,

Rural and Farm Employment
About one-fourth of the 263 million US residents in 1995 lived in rural or non-metro areas--it should be noted that both rural and non-metro are

Immigrants Transform Midwest Towns
A Wall Street Journal profile of Worthington, Minnesota recounted the familiar story of how ConAgra recruited immigrant Asian and Latino workers

Education and Rural Growth
According to Business Week, there is another renaissance in rural America led by yuppies using high-tech gadgets to ply their trades in urban areas

Migration Affects Rural California
The Commission on Immigration Reform held a hearing November 15, 1995 in Fresno on how immigration is affecting rural California, and whether the

Migrants in Maine and Kentucky
The increased use of farm labor contractors is a major factor in the increased use of Spanish-speaking workers in Maine's blueberry, broccoli,

Black Farmers
There are about 19,000 Black farmers in the US, down about 95 percent from 380,000 in 1954. Texas and Mississippi have the most Black farmers;

Mendota: Wave of the Future?
The west side of the San Joaquin Valley became productive farm land in the 1960s after federal and state water projects made irrigation water

Hispanics in Iowa Meatpacking
Hispanics and Asians now dominate the labor forces of midwestern meatpacking, an industry that has come full circle in the 20th century. It was

Oregon and Washington Rural Towns Changing
The 110-mile long Willamette Valley south of Portland has become home to a dozen computer chip manufacturing factories, one reason President

Colonias in New Mexico
Disease and a cold spring reduced the New Mexico chile crop by 30 to 40 percent, doubling chile prices and decreasing farm worker employment and

Population and Politics
Some pundits assert that the most important political dynamic in California and the southwest is the gap between population shares and political

Day Laborers
In many California cities and towns, so-called "day laborers" congregate on street corners or in the parking lots of builders' stores awaiting the

Vote Fraud in Parlier
A city council candidate was convicted of voter fraud after going door-to-door in a November 1992 race in Parlier with absentee ballots, and

Drug Making in Rural California?
Some of the same rural residents who provide housing and transportation to newly-arrived farm workers also manufacture methamphetamine -- a white

California: Heat, UFW, UI
Heat. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health on July 16, 2009 for the second time rejected revised regulations that would set an

Florida, North Carolina
The Migrant Farmworker Justice Project filed suits against tomato grower Ag-Mart, alleging that its electronic timekeeping system recorded fewer

Northeast, Northwest
New York. On June 12, 2009, Border Patrol agents detained several suspected unauthorized Mexican migrants in western New York, prompting a discussion

ALRB, EFCA, Unions
ALRB. California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975 granted the state's hired workers the right to form or join unions and required farm

California: Heat, Unemployment
Heat. Three operators of Merced Farm Labor were charged with involuntary manslaughter in the May 16, 2008 death of Maria Isabel Vasquez Jimenez, a

Florida, North Carolina
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers won another victory when Bon Appetit, a division of the Compass Group that operates 400 college and corporate

UFW, ALRB, SB 789
The UFW's LM-2 financial report (www.unionreports.gov) reported $6.6 million in revenue and $6.9 million in expenses in 2008. The 4,300 members at

New York, Colorado, Oregon
The New York Assembly approved the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act (S 2247 and AB 1867) in June 2009, but the bill stalled in the Senate on a

Farm Worker Services: MEP
Maine's Department of Education repaid $1.5 million to the US government in summer 2009 after agreeing that its count of children eligible for the

Unauthorized Workers, DOL, EFCA
After receiving no-match letters for 400 of its 1,000 employees in 2009, Overhill Farms told the workers to correct their information with the Social

Florida, North Carolina
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, founded in 1993 in Immokalee, threatened boycotts of fast-food chains that buy mature green tomatoes from about

Washington
Washington. There were plenty of farm workers in Washington and other states in 2008-09. The orchard manager at Broetje Orchards in the southeastern

Labor, NLRB, Unions
The federal minimum wage rose by 70 cents to $6.55 per hour on July 24, 2008; it will rise to $7.25 in 2009. Some 2.2 million US workers earned the

California: Unemployment, Heat
Some 650 dairy workers in Tulare county reached a $1.3 million settlement of a class-action suit in March 2009 alleging that they were not

UFW, ALRB, California Unions
There were marches around the US in honor of Cesar Chavez near his birthday, March 31, a state holiday in California and nine other states: Arizona,

California: Heat, EEOC, OSC, Machines
Four of the seven deaths due to heat-related stress among California workers in 2008 were in agriculture, as were more than half of the 60

UFW, ALRB, California Unions
The UFW in November 2008 announced a renegotiated contract with Countryside Mushrooms in Gilroy that raised wages by 8.6 percent over three years.

Florida: CIW, Sugar
Florida. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in December 2008 signed an agreement with Subway, the largest restaurant buyer of tomatoes, that obliges

North Carolina
The Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee represents 6,000 H-2A workers brought from Mexico by the North Carolina Growers Association, the

Northwest, Northeast
Oregon. Oregon's minimum wage rose from $7.95 to $8.40 an hour effective January 1, 2009. The federal minimum wage, $6.55 an hour, is scheduled to

Labor, DOL, NLRB, Unions
The US unemployment rate rose to 7.2 percent in December 2008, the highest rate since 1994, as payroll employment shrank by almost 20,000 jobs per

California: Heat Deaths, Drought, Data
There were at least six heat-related deaths among California farm workers in summer 2008, prompting California's Occupational Safety and Health

Florida, North Carolina
CIW. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in May 2008 signed an agreement with Burger King that requires the Florida growers of the tomatoes it buys to

Other States
Washington. The Washington State Farmworker Housing Trust (www.farmworkerhousingtrust.org) interviewed 2,845 farm workers in 2006 and learned that

California: UFW, ALRB
Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) spoke to several hundred UFW members and supporters at its convention in Fresno on August 22-24. A small crowd

NLRB, Unions, BLS
The National Labor Relations Board's General Counsel on July 22, 2008 issued a memo clarifying that workers who did not report to work in order to

Migrant Education
The Migrant Education Program (MEP) published regulations on July 29, 2008 that provided State Education Agencies (SEAs) with guidance to identify

California: Heat, EEEC, EEOC
In May 2008, a 17-year old pregnant farm worker who arrived from Oaxaca in February 2008 died from heat stroke after nine hours of pruning grape

Florida: CIW-Burger King
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers on May 23, 2008 persuaded Burger King to sign an agreement that requires the Florida growers of its tomatoes to

California: UFW, ALRB, Unions
In October 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed SB 180/650, bills which had been approved by the legislature. SB 180/650 would have allowed

Western States, New York
Colorado. The Colorado legislature approved HB 1325 in May 2008, creating a five-year Nonimmigrant Agricultural Seasonal Worker Pilot Program under

US Unions, FLSA, Data
Unions won 60 percent of the 1,500 NLRB-supervised elections in 2007, down from 61 percent of 1,650 in 2006. The Teamsters participated in the most

MSFW Services, Education
MEP. California has 240,000 children enrolled in the Migrant Education Program, and many cannot meet the state's graduation requirements. Only half

California: Labor Laws
California Division of Occupational Safety and Health fined YNT Harvesting $26,000 after a 54-year old peach worker died of a heart attack near Kettleman Hills on May 8, 2007.

Florida, Southeast
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in December 2007 organized a march to call attention to its campaign to persuade Burger King to sign an agreement that would require the growers of its tomatoes to raise the wage they pay pickers by one cent a pound.

California: UFW, ALRB
Cesar Chavez's birthday, March 31, was recognized as a California state holiday in 2000.

Colorado, Northwest, Northeast
HB 1325 would require Colorado's agriculture and labor departments to help Colorado farmers obtain H-2A workers under a five-year pilot program.

MEP: Audits
The federal government developed programs to provide education, health care, and other services to migrant farm workers and their children in the mid-1960s, when residency rules required six- or 12-months residence before receiving welfare or other assistance.

US Unions, SEIU
The number of union members rose to 15.7 million in 2007, up 311,000.

California: Wages, Vans, CRLA
California's minimum wage was $7.50 an hour in 2007, or $15,600 for 2,080 hours of work a year. The California Budget Project in October 2007

Florida: Tomatoes, Citrus
After marches and boycotts, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers persuaded Yum Brands (Taco Bell) in 2005 and McDonald's USA in 2007 to require the

North Carolina: FLOC
FLOC-NC. The Ohio-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee in October 2007 announced plans to pressure RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company to improve wages and

Northwest, Northeast
Oregon. Oregon produces more Christmas trees than any other state, and finds its industry threatened by artificial trees- half of the trees used in

Colorado, Texas, Michigan
Colorado's Department of Corrections announced that it would expand its inmate farm worker program. In 2007, the DOC provided five crews of 15

UFW: D'Arrigo, US Unions
The UFW on October 9, 2007 reached a three-year agreement with lettuce grower D'Arrigo Brothers covering 1,500 workers. The UFW won an election to

California: Pesticides, UFW
Pesticides. The California Department of Public Health released a report in July 2007 suggesting that a high rate of autism in children may be linked

Florida, Southeast
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers launched a series of rallies across Florida in Fall 2007 to pressure Burger King to agree to pay a penny a pound

Ohio, Colorado
Ohio. A survey of workers employed in the Ohio nursery industry found 72 percent were foreign-born Latinos. Almost 80 percent earned less than $10

Northwest, Northeast
Oregon. The UFW signed its first contract in Oregon in July 2007, a three-year agreement covering 250 workers at Threemile Canyon Farms. The

Unions, Trade
The Employee Free Choice Act is a federal version of SB180/650, allowing recognition of unions without NLRB supervision. EFCA (H. R. 800, S. 1041)

Employment and Earnings
The National Agricultural Statistics Service released its July 2007 Employment and Earnings estimates, finding 1.2 million hired farm workers earning

California: UFW, ALRB, Card Checks
UFW. The UFW has two major goals in 2007, getting AgJOBS immigration reform enacted by Congress and persuading the California Legislature to approve

Florida, North Carolina, Georgia
Ag-Mart. A federal judge in May 2007 ruled that Ag-Mart, a subsidiary of Philadelphia-based Procacci Brothers and grower of Santa Sweet grape

Northwest, Northeast
The Washington state Employment Security Department released a video in May 2007 to recruit farm workers. It emphasizes that Washington has the

Midwest: FLOC, Colorado
FLOC. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (http://www.floc.com) represents about 6,000 Mexican workers who come to the US with H-2A visas and are deployed

MEP Program
The federal Office of Migrant Education has a $386 million a year budget, most of which is distributed to state education agencies (SEAs) to provide

NLRB, OSHA
NLRB. In 2003-04, some 60,000 UFCW members went on a 141-day strike against Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons in Southern California to oppose a two-tier

California: EEEC, Housing, Health
EEEC. California's Economic and Employment Enforcement Coalition is a federal-state effort established in 2005 to combat the underground economy

Florida: McDonald's, Evans FLC
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers in March 2005 persuaded Taco Bell after a four-year boycott to increase the amount it pays for fresh tomatoes by

Colorado, Oregon, Washington
Colorado. Colorado in summer 2006 approved laws that require state identification for government services and allow police to check suspects'

FLOC, Northeast
FLOC. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee represents Mexican workers with H-2A visas brought to the US by the North Carolina Growers Association.

Chavez, UFW, ALRB, Unions
Cesar Estrada Chavez was born March 31, 1927 and died April 21, 1993. Chavez established the National Farm Workers Association in Delano in 1962,

California: Wages, Health
California's unemployment rate dropped to 4.5 percent in October, the lowest rate since record keeping began in 1976. Health care, education and

UFW: D'Arrigo
On November 1, 2006, D'Arrigo Brothers of California agreed to pay $3.6 million to settle a suit involving unpaid transportation time. The company

Florida, Midwest
Florida's 2006-07 orange crop, estimated at 140 million 90-pound boxes, is the smallest since 1991-92. Forecasters project orange production to

Washington, Oregon
Washington's Farm Bureau held a November 13, 2006 conference on labor, and heard Employment Security Department Director Karen Lee explain that there

US, CA, Employment & Earnings, MEP
USDA's Farm Labor report found an average 752,000 hired workers employed on US farms in 2006, down from 780,000 in 2005. In addition, about 300,000

ALRB, NLRB, Unions
In July 2006, the 3rd District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled in a 2-1 decision that mandatory mediation, the September 2002 amendment to the

California: Spinach, EEOC, Housing, Workers
California's minimum wage will rise from the current $6.75 an hour to $7.50 in January 2007 and $8 in January 2008. Future increases must be decided

ALRB: Mandatory Mediation, Cases
The Third District Court of Appeals upheld the constitutionality of mandatory mediation in a 2-1 ruling on July 5, 2006. Mandatory mediation has

UFW, NLRB
The UFW has three contracts with Napa county vineyards and three in Sonoma county, but lost one of the Napa contracts on July 7, 2006 when Charles

Florida, Southeast
Florida. The Avon Park (population 8,800) City Council in July 2006 rejected on a 3-2 vote an ordinance that would have cracked down on illegal

Oregon, Washington
Oregon. Measure 25, an initiative approved by voters in November 2002, raised Oregon's minimum wage from $6.50 to $6.90 an hour January 1, 2003. The

Midwest, Maine
The San Antonio Express reported that 70,000 migrants from south Texas work in Midwestern states each year, and that "detasseling" seed corn

California: Minimum Wage, EEEC
The California Legislature in June 2006 approved a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage from the current $6.75 an hour to $7.25 an hour in

UFW: AgJOBS, Unions
The UFW held a march on March 26, 2006 in downtown Los Angeles that attracted 4,000 people, a day after 500,000 people demonstrated in favor of

Florida, Southeast
The Florida Legislature in May 2006 approved bills to protect farm workers by increasing the number of pesticide inspectors from 20 to 30,

Northwest: Workers, Apples
Washington. An unusually wet spring 2006 was expected to provide ample water to produce crops in the arid west, but some farmers predicted that many

MSFW Services
Agriculture is the major port of entry for some of the least-educated immigrants arriving in the US. The average immigrant farm worker has less than

COA: Jobs to Workers
Farm workers are usually defined as persons paid wages to do farm work. When ranked by days of farm work, hired farm workers tend to be at the

California Farm Workers
California's Employment Development Department reported that employers posted 23 listings in the CalJOBS system between July and October 2005 in

UFW: Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times published a series of articles on January 8-11, 2006, highly critical of the UFW, asserting that "Chavez's heirs run a web of

US Unions
The United Food and Commercial Workers Union called for an election in 1997 at the Smithfield Packing Company plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, 75

Florida, North Carolina
Immokalee farm labor contractor Abel Cuello Jr. pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he conspired to violate US laws barring involuntary

UFW-Global, Oregon
Los Angeles-based Global Horizons, which brought 170 Thai workers to the Yakima Valley in 2004 on H-2A visas to harvest apples, had its labor

California: Pesticides, EEOC, SSNs
Enforcement. California's Labor and Workforce Development Agency (http://www.labor.ca.gov) has launched the Triple E-C, the Economic and Employment

UFW, Food Unions, Prop 75
The UFW's strawberry contract with Dole, which bought Coastal Growers, covers pickers in Oxnard and Watsonville and expires December 31, 2005.

ALRB: Decisions, Make Whole
Irene Raymundo was appointed to the ALRB in November 2005, giving the agency three board members. Ed Blanco has been acting as General

Florida, North Carolina
Florida's first state minimum wage went into effect in May 2004, raising the state's wage from the federal $5.15 to $6.15 an hour. In January 2006,

Apples, Oregon
Dwarf apple and pear trees are being planted close together, sometimes only two or three feet apart, and with rows nine or 10 feet apart, and then

MSFW Services, Data
George Ortiz, founder and CEO of the California Human Development Corp in 1967, is the largest nonprofit agency in Sonoma County. CHDC began as an

Data, Services
Congress restored $76 million in funding for the National Farmworker Jobs Program, which provides English and job training services to migrant and

Florida, Southeast
The Palm Beach Post on July 31, 2005 reported that many of the state's nurseries violate pesticide safety laws, and that nursery workers were at

Northwest, Midwest
Washington. Southwest Washington berry growers complained of labor shortages in summer 2005, reporting that even when they offered housing to

UFW: Giumarra, Gallo, CA-US Unions
The UFW lost its biggest organizing drive in years when 3,000 workers at Giumarra Vineyards voted for no union on September 1, 2005. The vote was

California: Heat, Pesticides, Health Care
The California Legislature voted in September 2005 to raise the state's minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.25 an hour in July 2006 and to $7.75 in July

ALRB, Workers, Canneries
Few US farm workers follow the crops in the manner portrayed in "The Grapes of Wrath," setting off without knowing where their next US farm job will

UFW: Gallo, Heat, Unions
The UFW remained locked in a dispute with Gallo of Sonoma in spring and summer 2005 over what benefits should go to the two-thirds of workers brought

Data, Services
The US Department of Labor suspended the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) in January 2005 and reinstated it in April 2005. The survey

Northeast, Midwest, Northwest
CITA, the Centro Independiente de Trabajadores Agr¡colas (Independent Farm Workers Center), organized a four-day "March for Justice" to Albany in May

Florida: Lakeland Ledger
Lakeland Ledger. The Lakeland Ledger in Polk county published a six-day series on farm workers beginning May 22, 2005 under the title "Illegal, but

ALRB, EEOC, Health/WC
ALRB. Mandatory mediation, the 2002 amendment to the 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act that allows a certified union or employer to request

UFW, US Unions
There were marches throughout the US on March 31, 2005 to celebrate the birthday of Cesar Chavez, who died April 23, 1993. Amid the celebrations,

Midwest, Northeast
Some 5,000 migrant workers arrive in Wisconsin from South Texas every summer, including two-thirds who work in food processing. Interviews with the

Florida, Southeast, Southwest
Tomatoes. Florida and Mexico produce most US fresh tomatoes in the winter months, and many of the Florida tomatoes are from the Immokalee area.

MSFW Services, NAWS
President Bush's FY06 budget once again proposes eliminating the $76 million migrant and seasonal farm worker training program (National Farmworker

ALRB, Horses, NLRB, Health
ALRB. Daniel Zingale, a member of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, was sued in November 2004 by Reedley tree fruit grower Dan Gerawan, who

UFW: Gallo, Pictsweet, DiGiorgio, Unions
Gallo. The UFW won an election in 1994 to represent about 300 Gallo of Sonoma workers. The first contract, signed in 2000, expired on November 1,

Midwest, Northeast, Northwest
Midwest. The Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project sued Brady Farms, a blueberry grower, on behalf of 3,000 workers employed there between 1999

Southeast, Florida
Workers harvesting sweet potatoes in North Carolina in October 2004 were reportedly paid piece rate wages of $0.40 per 30-pound basket; workers can

Health and Insurance
A study of 600 Mexican migrant workers in Fresno and San Diego counties found that one percent are infected with HIV, three times the rate of HIV

California: Laws, Wages, Health
California labor law enforcement officers did spot checks of farm labor vehicles in September 2004 and issued citations for violations including

UFW, Unions
The UFW held its convention in Fresno August 28-29, 2004 and honored retiring state senate leader John Burton, who authored the mandatory mediation

Midwest, Northeast, Northwest
FLOC. The Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee in September 2004 announced that it signed a three-way labor agreement between FLOC, the North

Florida, Carolinas
The farm labor contractor driving a van that overturned on I-95 April 1, 2004 lost his license and was fined $150; nine workers were killed.

Farm Worker Services, Data
The federal Migrant Education Program is the largest of the Big 4 programs that provide over $1 billion a year in grants to local government agencies

Wages, CLRA, Productivity
FELS (http://www.fels.org) reported that its farm employer-members paid an average $7.70 an hour to entry-level general laborers in Spring 2004, and that

UFW Series, Unions
The Bakersfield Californian ran a series of articles on the UFW in May 2004 (http://www.bakersfield.com/special/ufw/). The UFW's showcase collective

Northwest
Washington. Washington plans to spend $2.8 million to build and operate seasonal housing for migrant farm workers in the Wenatchee Valley over the

Florida: Laws, Trafficking, Tomatoes
Florida in May 2004 revived the Florida Agricultural Workers Safety Act (FAWS), which expired in 1998. HB 1307 increases penalties from $1,000 to

Northeast. Midwest
The Justice for Farmworkers Campaign marched to Albany in May 2004 to press for state Senate approval of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act,

Farm Worker Services, Data
For the past three years, President Bush has proposed eliminating the National Farmworker Jobs Program, or NFJP, which provided $76.6 million in FY04

California: Buses, WC, UI
Company Buses. California farm employers who require employees to ride on company buses to and from the fields must pay the workers for their travel

UFW: Pictsweet, Gallo, Chavez
The UFW in February 2004 endorsed John Kerry for president. Teresa Heinz Kerry later traveled to Forty Acres west of Delano and said "Cesar Chavez

Midwest, Northeast, Northwest
The Toledo, Ohio-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee continues to picket stores that sell pickles from North Carolina-based Mt. Olive. FLOC, wants

Florida: Oranges, Vans
Mechanization, driven by international competition rather than labor shortages, is spreading in Florida orange groves. Most Florida oranges continue

Farm Worker Services, Data
President Bush proposed eliminating 65 federal programs in FY05, including the $77 million a year program that provides training and other services

UFW: ALRB, Gallo, LM-2
On October 16, 2003, the ALRB issued its first mandatory mediation decision, ordering that a mediator's recommended collective bargaining agreement

California: Farm Labor
SB 796 allows California employees to bypass the normal labor law enforcement system, the Labor Commissioner, and sue their employers on behalf of

Florida: News Series, FTAA
In August 2003, the Miami Herald ran a series of articles entitled "Fields of Pain" that charged that FLCs were targeting homeless shelters and

Midwest: Churches Endorse Boycotts
In March 1999, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), announced a consumer boycott of the products of North Carolina-based Mt. Olive Pickle

Northwest
Idaho. Anheuser-Busch has since 1987 owned Agricultural Resources Inc.'s Elk Mountain Farms, about 20 miles northwest of Bonners Ferry near the

Labor, MSFW Services, Data
Employment/Unemployment. The US unemployment rate was six percent in October 2003, 5.9 percent in November 2003, and 5.7 percent in December 2003,

California: Mediation
The Pacific Legal Foundation sued the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, alleging that mandatory mediation is unconstitutional. A judge ruled

New York, Midwest
New York's Democratic-led Assembly approved a bill in 2003 that would grant farm workers several benefits, ranging from overtime pay to the right

Data, Mobility, Census
NASS. USDA reported that there were 1.3 million hired workers employed on US farms the week of July 6-12, 2003, including 75 percent directly hired

Northwest
The state of Washington estimated there were an average 27,000 seasonal farm workers employed on state farms in 2002--seasonal workers were defined

Florida: Oranges, Housing; Texas
The Miami Herald ran a series of articles entitled "Fields of Pain" beginning on August 31, 2003, charging that Black recruiters were targeting

UFW: Contracts, Politics, Wages
Contracts. The UFW in summer 2003 reportedly renegotiated contracts covering 1,200 citrus workers in eastern Riverside county with Desert Citrus

California: UI, Workers Comp, Health
Unemployment Insurance. California paid $5.4 billion in UI benefits to jobless workers in 2002, up sharply from $3.4 billion in 2001. Rising

Florida: Migrants
Florida has 4,000 registered farm labor contractors, and they have developed a variety of relationships with other entities that make it hard to

Oregon and Washington
Oregon. Labor Commissioner Dan Gardner wants to require farm employers to give hired workers meal and rest breaks beginning in summer 2003. Farmers

UFW: Health, Organizing, Chavez
The United Farm Workers union in April 2003 unveiled a bill, AB 923, that would divert the money currently saved by farmers from the state sales

California: Mediation, Hoes, Health/WC
Mediation. UFCW Local 1096 on April 3, 2003 made the first request for mandatory mediation after failing to negotiate an agreement with the

Water and Farm Workers
About 80 percent of California's "developed water" stored in dams, 20 million acre-feet a year, is used to irrigate 9.6 million acres of farm land.

Farmworker Services
The federal Migrant Education Program is the largest of the Big 4 programs that provide over $1 billion a year in grants to local government

Florida: Tomatoes, Pesticides, Housing
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers held a 10-day hunger strike involving 30 to 50 protestors outside the Irvine, California headquarters

Midwest, Northeast
The Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) held a rally April 13, 2003 in Mount Olive, North Carolina

Northwest
The Oregon Farm Bureau has a bill in the Legislature, HB 2351, that would grant farm workers collective bargaining rights

UFW: Coastal, Gallo
The UFW won the right to represent more strawberry workers at Coastal Berry, but may have lost the right to represent 350 Gallo of Sonoma employees.

ALRB: Mediation, Pictsweet
The ALRB on March 4, 2003 adopted draft regulations to implement mandatory mediation. For unions certified to represent at least 25 workers

ALRB: Mediation Regulations
California took another "innovative step" to regulate farm labor relations by requiring mandatory mediation when farm employers and unions cannot

California: Labor Law, Unions
The California Industrial Welfare Commission in January 2003 rejected a proposal to increase the state's minimum wage, currently $6.75 an hour and

Florida: Slavery, Housing
Three men, brothers Juan and Ramiro Ramos, and a cousin, Jose Ramos, were sentenced to 10 to 12 years in prison for enslaving 700 unauthorized

Virginia: Christmas Greenery
Three counties in Southwestern Virginia-- Carroll, Grayson and Floyd -- produce $74 million a year in Christmas trees, holiday garlands and wreaths

Midwest: Migrant Deaths
In October 2002, 11 people, seven men and four women, were found dead in rail cars in Denison, Iowa, population 7,500. The train had originated in

MSFW Assistance Programs
The Migrant Education Program (MEP) wins more publicity than other migrant assistance programs. The television documentary program P.O.V. on August

California: FLCs, Workers' Comp
California employers must retain copies of the licenses of the Farm Labor Contractors who bring workers to their farms for three years, and they must

Midwest: Corn, DeCoster
Most of those detasseling corn are teens, who walk along half-mile long rows of corn that each have 3,000 to 4,000 plants; most detasselers cover 15

Northeast: Maine H-2B Tragedy
In the Allagash Wilderness Waterway, a remote part of Maine, 14 Honduran and Guatemalan workers died in September 2002 when the van driven by their

Southeast: Oranges, Tobacco
Florida orange harvesting may be mechanized. Hand harvesters pick an average 10 90-pound field boxes or 900 pounds of oranges an hour, at a cost of

Northwest
Mattawa, Washington on the Columbia River has temporarily banned new tax-free housing projects because they increase demand for municipal services

UFW: Mandatory Mediation, ALRB Cases
The UFW, calling binding arbitration "the most important farm labor bill since 1975… [to] finally fulfill the promise of the original 1975

UFW: 40 Year Anniversary
The UFW held its 16th Constitutional Convention in Fresno in September 2002, marking the fortieth anniversary of its founding in 1962 in the city of

California: Farm Workers
Victoria Island Farms, owner of the property on which six migrant labor camps with "deplorable conditions" were found in San Joaquin County in 2000,

UFW: Arbitration, Members
The UFW is pushing a first-contract arbitration bill, SB 1736, that would require a certified union and an employer who cannot agree on a first

ALRB: Decisions, Unions
The ALRB issued five decisions in the first half of 2002. In Pete Vanderham Dairy, Inc, 28 ALRB 1, the Board certified Dairy Employees Local 17 as

Southeast: Migrants
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is continuing to recruit college students to pressure Taco Bell, a subsidiary of Tricon Global Restaurants (Yum!

Northeast: Eggs, New York, Fishing
DeCoster Egg Farms in June 2002 reached a $3.2 million settlement with the Mexican government and migrant workers who sued DeCoster in 1998 over

Northwest: Oregon, Washington, Colorado
Sodexho, a Norpac food-service client based in Maryland, pushed the 240-member farmer's cooperative into negotiating with Oregon's only farm-labor

Employment Training, Data
President Bush proposed the elimination of the National Farmworkers Jobs Program, the old 402/303 training programs that train legally authorized

Court: No Back Pay for Unauthorized
The US Supreme Court in March 2002 ruled that unauthorized workers who are wrongly fired for union organizing are not entitled to back pay for the

California Transportation
In August 1999, 13 farm workers died when the van in which they were riding crashed into a tomato truck. The California Legislature responded to the

UFW: Pensions, Chavez
The UFW, celebrating its 40th birthday in 2002, operates its own health care (Robert F Kennedy) and pension (Juan De La Cruz) programs. Under many

Southeast
Activists associated with the Apopka-based Farmworkers Association of Florida are supporting legislation pending in the Florida Legislature that

Northwest
Washington's Office of Community Development in 2000 and 2001 established tent camps that allowed farm workers to stay for up to 28 days. There are

MSFW Services
President Bush proposed to increase funding for Job Corps to $1.5 billion- Job Corps is a public-private partnership that provides job training for

California: Housing, Dole
California's minimum wage rose from $6.25 to $6.75 an hour on January 1, 2002. Employees paid at least $2,340 a month (twice the minimum wage for

UFW, ALRB- Coastal, Krug
The UFW dealt with mushroom, nursery and furniture workers in Fall 2001. The UFW has been trying to negotiate an agreement with the Ventura,

Northest: New York, DeCoster
New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals, in November 2001 ruled that farmer Paul Hafner Jr. can put mobile homes on his 800-acre farm to house

Southeast: Suits
Mecca Farms, one of Palm Beach County's largest growers, and its labor contractors, Rogerio Rodriguez, Maria T. Sanchez and M. Sanchez & Son Inc,

Northwest: Teamsters Concede
Teamsters Local 760 of Yakima, Washington told the National Labor Relations Board in December 2001 that it would not seek to represent workers at the

Migrant Services
The US Department of Labor funds a rest stop near Hope, Arkansas that has 60 rooms that rent for $3 for 12 hours; the rest stop is open

California: New Laws, Dole
California has new farm worker protection laws that permit higher fines on farm employers who do not pay workers the wages they are due (AB 423), and

California: Housing, Napa, Stockton
The Department of Housing and Community Development made $13 million in grants from the Joe Serna Jr. Farmworker Housing Grant program in August

ALRB, UFW, Teamsters
The ALRB issued several decisions, including Turco Desert Company, 27 ALRB 4, in which the ALRB agreed that date grower Turco unlawfully fired worker

West: Apples
The Fall 2001 apple harvest saw the spread of several labor practices, including the use of tents to house harvest workers on public lands, such as

East: Blueberries, Housing, Tomatoes
Maine produces about $85 million worth of blueberries a year, and half of the 8,000 seasonal harvesters are Latino immigrants; the other half of the

Data and Services
USDA surveys farm employers around the US once each quarter, and reported that there were 1.4 million hired workers on US farms in the week of July

California Enforcement, Housing
The Sacramento Bee on May 20-22, 2001 highlighted the failure of the state to enforce labor laws aimed at protecting farm workers. The series laid

California: WC, UI, Wages and Benefits
Agriculture, construction and mining are industries with higher than average injury rates for workers. In California, the number of reported

Unions: Disputes, Chavez, Dues
There were three ALRB-supervised elections in the first five months of 2001. The UFW won a May 2001 election at a Bakersfield sod farm on a 13-6

Midwest: Migrants
The INS apprehended 91 unauthorized workers at Boomsma Inc. egg facilities near Clarion, Iowa in April 2001; the workers were provided to Boomsma by

Southeast, Northeast
The Florida Legislature was considering legislation in May 2001 that would prohibit farmers from deducting the cost of equipment and supplies used

Northwest: Oregon, Washington, Idaho
Oregon committed $1 million for farm worker housing in 1999-2000, and a proposal in the Legislature would increase the amount to $5 million for

MSFW: Legal, Other Services
The Legal Services Corporation, founded in 1974 to provide legal assistance to poor residents, received $329 million in federal funds in FY2000.

California: EDD, Enforcements, Housing
The California Farm Bureau reported that the top farm stories of 2000 were the November 2000 elections and low farm prices; farm labor did not make

UFW: Strawberries, Mushrooms, Corona
There were numerous marches and ceremonies in honor of Cesar Chavez on March 31, the state holiday in Chavez's memory that was celebrated on his

ALRB, NLRB, Unions
The ALRB issued two decisions in January-February 2001. In Borchard et.al. (27 ALRB 1), the Board refused to dismiss charges in 13 cases filed

Southeast: Protests, Oranges
About 300 farm workers and their supporters marched to Tallahassee in January 2001 to pressure Florida Governor Jeb Bush to organize negotiations

Northwest: Minimum Wages, Apples
The Idaho Legislature in March 2001 on a 41-28 vote raised the percentage of farm workers covered by minimum wage legislation from 70 to 95 percent

East, Midwest: Labor, Dutch
In New York, labor activists are trying to end the exclusion of farm workers from overtime laws. One farmer countered that overtime pay would

California: Wages, Health, ES, Housing
Minimum Wages. California's Industrial Welfare Commission boosted the minimum wage from $5.75 to $6.25 an hour on January 1, 2001, and to $6.75

UFW: Strawberries, Mushrooms
The UFW filed its LM-2 report for 1999, reporting $7 million in revenues, including $1.7 million or 24 percent from the dues of 26,000 members, $4

ALRB, NLRB
The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1096 lost an election at Boskovich Farms in Oxnard on a 19-3 vote in November 2000. NLRB.

Northwest: Apples
The US harvested about 240 million 42-pound bushels of apples in 2000, down from 251 million bushels in 1999. About 150 million bushels were

Northeast, Midwest
Aroostook County, Maine has two large broccoli farms, and they employ primarily Mexican-born workers to harvest crops. In September 2000, one of the

Southeast, Florida Sugar, FLOC
Between 1941 and the mid-1990s, virtually all sugarcane grown in Florida was cut by hand by workers imported from the Caribbean, usually from

Farm Worker Services
Cruz Reynoso, the first Latino to serve on the California Supreme Court, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in August 2000. Reynoso was

Data: Benefits, Social Security
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics computes the costs of hiring workers. In March 1999, the most recent data available, the total cost of employing

California: FLCs, Housing, Hate
Farm Labor Contractors. Between December 1997 and February 1998, the US Department of Labor inspected 66 vineyards to check on compliance with

UFW: Gallo, Bear Creek
The United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO, held its 15th Constitutional Convention on September 2-3, 2000 "to celebrate 38 years of continuous

Florida, Georgia
Florida. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on June 15, 2000 charged that Sun-Rich of Immokalee refused to hire at least 12 Haitians as

Texas-Midwest, FLOC
Texas. Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush assured farmers that "agriculture will not be a stepchild in the Bush administration." Critics

Northwest: Housing, Wages
Washington employs an estimated 44,000 workers to harvest apples and 16,000 to harvest cherries. There were protests and strikes by apple pickers in

ALRB/NLRB
Norma Turner was appointed ALRB General Counsel. The ALRB issued several decisions in May 2000. In Coastal Berry Company 26 ALRB 2 (2000), the

Farmworker Health and Safety
Child Labor. The New York Times reported on August 5, 2000 that there were 150,000 children ages 16 or younger employed in US agriculture and said

California: Chavez Holiday
California in August 2000 became the first state to honor Cesar Chavez with an official paid holiday. The California Legislature approved SB 984

California: Farm Labor Laws
The year 2000 appears to be the year of the farm labor contractor, with legislative and enforcement efforts directed toward ensuring that the 1,200

Florida: Sugar, Tomatoes, Housing
Between 1941 and the mid-1990s, virtually all sugarcane grown in Florida was cut by hand by workers imported from the Caribbean, usually from

Washington: RICO Suit Series
A class-action suit was filed on behalf of several legal immigrants in Yakima under the state's Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act against

UFW: Changing Role
The UFW is enlarging its role from a union representing farm workers to a broader movement advocating on behalf of Hispanics, according to an article

Children, Data, Services
Children. Human Rights Watch in June 2000 released a report that estimated that 300,000 to 800,000 mostly Hispanic children work on US farms. HRM

State Briefs
Maine. Some of the peak 1,000 former Mexican employees of DeCoster Egg Farm in Turner filed a lawsuit in May 2000 alleging that DeCoster

California: Employment Services
Each year about 700,000 seasonal farm workers are matched with jobs on farms that last from a few days to several months— the other 100,000

California: Transportation, Labor and Safety
There continues to be legislative interest in helping farm workers, with several bills introduced to provide more benefits or to tighten labor laws

UFW: Chavez Holiday, Coastal
The California Senate on January 31, 2000 voted 23-0 to approve SB 984, making March 31 a paid holiday for state workers, public schools and

State Briefs
Florida tomato pickers marched 230 miles from Immokalee to the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association in Orlando to protest low piece-rate picking

Housing: Tents
Washington announced new rules for tent camps for migrant workers in March 2000. Washington has several labor-intensive but short harvest seasons,

Migrant Services
During the peak of the harvest season, many migrant service programs assist reporters in profiling the migrants they serve. Migrant Education

ALRB: Farm and Nonfarm Work
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board has a $4.8 million budget and a staff of 50 in 1999-00. The ALRB requested $5 million for 2000-01,

California: Pesticides, Transportation, Wages
California produced about 44 percent of the FVH commodities in 1997--fruits, nuts and berries, vegetables and melons, and horticultural specialties

UFW: Huerta, Contracts
President Clinton presented Dolores Huerta with the Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights in December 1999. Clinton praised Huerta for "all she

Florida: H-2A, Citrus, Tomatoes
Flooding from Fall 1999 hurricanes slowed vegetable planting in southeast Florida, leaving farm workers who normally would be going back to work

State Briefs
Washington has several short harvests that require many hand pickers, including cherries, a $150-million crop that employs 15,000 to 17,000 workers

Labor Law: Change MSPA?
In October 1999, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on a bill, H.R. 1886,

California: Housing
USDA is providing $32 million in Rural Development grants nationwide to build 622 housing units for farm workers and to repair 13 housing complexes

UFW: Coastal, Napa
On August 17, 1999, the ALRB Regional Director counted the ballots in the June 3-4, 1999 election at Coastal Berry and put the final tally at 725

Washington: Housing
The number of seasonal farm workers employed in Washington varies from about 14,000 in January to nearly 70,000 from June into October. The

States: Ohio, North Carolina, Wisconsin
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee in August 1999 accused a farmer near Toledo, Ohio of not paying some of the 110 workers hired to pick

California: Safety Housing
On August 9, 1999, 13 tomato sorters were killed in Fresno County when the van in which they were riding collided with a tractor-trailer truck

Farm Labor Data
California's minimum wage is $5.75 an hour; the federal minimum is $5.15. Workers earning less than twice the minimum wage, $11.50 an hour, must

UFW Loses at Coastal
The UFW lost three elections at Coastal Berry, the largest strawberry grower in the US, with a peak 1,500 farm workers. In the decisive

Migrant Housing
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development in June 1999 announced that $81 million would be distributed to 81 agencies or organizations in

California: FLC's, UI-DI
On May 23, 1999, the Chicago Tribune reviewed the growing role of labor contractors in California agriculture, concluding that labor contractors

Southeast
The INS in mid-April 1999 apprehended 27 unauthorized migrants in southeastern Georgia who were living in squalid conditions; they had been brought

Oregon
Senate Bill 1115, approved by the Oregon Legislature in June 1999, would make it illegal for agricultural employers to fire workers for trying

MSFW Assistance: 402, Migrant E9
DOL provides funds to nonprofit organizations and state agencies to provide employment and training services to MSFWs. In FY99, about $71.5

ALRB: Back in Business
Governor Gray Davis on April 29, 1999 appointed three new members to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board: Genevieve A. Shiroma (Air Resources

Pesticides
The Pesticide Action Network issued a report in June 1999, "Fields of Poison," that argued that farm workers, especially those employed in

Farm Labor Data
USDA's April 1999 farm labor survey reported that 844,000 hired workers were employed on US farms during the week of April 11-17, 1999; 657,000 or

Florida: Mechanization
For many years, economists thought that higher farm wages, effectuated by farm worker unions, the availability of nonfarm jobs or reduced

UFW: 1999 Campaign
The UFW is poised to renew its effort to organize strawberry workers. Growers increased acreage planted to 24,600 in 1999. Strawberries

North Carolina: FLOC, Legal Services
The Toledo-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee in March 1999 began a boycott of North Carolina's Mount Olive Pickle Co., with rallies

Oregon, Idaho
Farm worker advocates in Oregon demonstrated in March 1999 in favor of an increase in the state's Housing Trust Fund from $15.5 million to $160

Farm Labor Data, 402S
USDA's NASS conducts a quarterly survey of persons employed on US farms during the week that includes the twelfth of the month. The quarterly Farm

MSFW Programs: $850 Million in FY00
The President's FY00 budget includes a proposed seven percent increase in funding for the major MSFW assistance programs, bringing their funding

California: Enforcement
As a result of the December 1990 freeze and slow relief efforts that left many farm workers in dire straits, ex-Governor Pete Wilson ordered state

ALRB/NLRB
In mid-January 1999, Governor Gray Davis appointed three aides to be members of the ALRB for one day, and thus block the ALRB from launching an

UFW
On November 5, 1998, an investigative hearing examiner for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board ruled that the July 23, 1998 election at Coastal

Oregon: H-2A, PCUN
Oregon's second-largest nursery, J. Frank Schmidt & Son Co. in Boring, became the first crop producer in the state to employ H-2A workers: 45

Mountain States
The Albuquerque Journal ran a series of stories on farm labor in southern New Mexico in October 1998. Many Mexican farm workers commute daily from

Florida: Housing, Flo-Sun
Florida's Advisory Council on Farmworker Affairs in November 1998 issued a fact sheet that asserted that 300,000 people work for wages in

Midwest: Migrants, Eggs
NBC's Dateline ran a one-hour special on migrant farm workers on December 4, 1998, following a family from south Texas that picked cucumbers in

Farm Labor Data
There is no one source of data on persons who work on US farms for wages. Each source of farm labor data can be likened to a window that permits a

California Enforcement, Workers Comp
Federal and state labor law enforcement agencies, as part of the TIPP program, conducted an "investigative survey" of 66 randomly selected

MSFW Services: MHS 402S
Budgets for the major federal MSFW programs increased for FY99, which began October 1, 1998. The Big 4 programs received almost $700 million:

Farm Workers: Top 10
At the end of the year, many farm organizations poll their members on the top 10 challenges facing them in the year ahead, or the top ten stories

Washington: Farm Worker Housing
Washington State Governor Gary Locke has made farm worker housing a top state priority in 1999. Locke has proposed a $40 million plan to build

UFW Loses at Coastal
On July 23, 1998, the Coastal Berry Farmworkers Committee won an election to represent the 1,000 farm workers employed at Coastal Berry Inc. by a

Florida: Sugar Settles
U.S. Sugar Corp. agreed in July 1998 to pay $5.65 million to settle suits that the company underreported the hours of work of up to 20,000 H-2

MIdwest, Southeast
The peak number of migrants in the Red River Valley of North Dakota employed to thin and weed sugar beets is reportedly falling from the usual

Child Labor, Pesticides, Safety
A General Accounting Office released a report September 17, 1998 that estimated that 128,000 to 155,000 youths age 15-17 were hired for farm work

MSFW Services: LSC, MHS
California Governor Wilson signed a $75 billion budget for 1998-99; he vetoed $2.5 million for migrant and seasonal farm worker

Transnational Migrants
A profile of a crew chief at Oceanside, San Diego county, flower grower Mellano & Co; Mellano starts new workers at the minimum wage of $5.75

Farm Labor Data
US Department of Agriculture's July 1998 Farm Labor publication reported that there were 1.45 million hired workers employed on US farms during the

UFW: Strawberries
Most observers think that the UFW in 1998 must request and win an election among strawberry workers to sustain its organizing campaign. However,

California: Housing
A May 31, 1998 profile of housing in the Watsonville and Salinas areas reported that strawberry workers earning $200 a week often shared housing to

Northwest
The UFW filed its second suit against an apple grower in March 1998, alleging that Auvil Fruit Co. Inc. retaliated against 28 farm workers who

Florida: Smugglings, Workers
On April 24, the US attorney in Miami indicted 16 unauthorized aliens on charges of smuggling young women from Veracruz, Mexico to the US and

North Carolina: Pickles
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, estimates that there are 5,000 seasonal workers who pick cucumbers for growers who

ALRB: No Changes, Case
The ALRB in 1997 began a comprehensive review of its regulations and invited interested parties to testify in hearings held throughout the

Enforcement: Children, FLCs, MSPA
In the first of 50 planned sweeps in 1998 as part of "Operation Salad Bowl," the US Labor Department fined six growers in the Rio Grande Valley a

Services: USDA, 402s
At the recommendation of its Civil Rights Action Team, USDA is requesting $5.5 million for Cooperative State Research, Extension and Education

Farm Employment and Wages
There were 1,005,000 hired workers on the nation's farms and ranches the week of April 12-18, 1998, including 800,000 hired directly by farm

Social Security, Pilots
All employers who file 250 or more W-2s in a tax year are required to provide to the Social Security Administration earnings and tax information on

Mechanization: Raisings, Olives
Lee Simpson, a raisin grower near Fresno, is believed to have a vineyard of the future. Vines are planted five feet apart and with eight feet

Flrodia: Tomatoes, Citrus
There are an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 tomato harvesters in the Immokalee area, and six of them began a hunger strike on December 20, 1997 to

Washington/Oregon: Teamsters Lose, Housing
Apple packinghouse workers voted against Teamster representation at Stemilt Growers Inc. by a 290-205 vote and workers at Washington Fruit and

UFW: Contracts, CRLA
The UFW signed 17 contracts with California growers between 1994 and 1997. In December 1997, the UFW signed its first agreement with L.E. Cooke

Child Labor
President Clinton proposed an additional $4 million for DOL to hire 36 new investigators to enforce child labor laws, calling child labor "the

US and California: Earnings, ALRB
USDA's NASS reported that 800,000 hired workers were employed on US farms during the second week of January 1998. About one-sixth were brought to

Workers Compensation, Safety
In new report published by the USDA, Jack Runyan examined data from the 1992 Census of Agriculture that asked farm operators if there were any

Unions: US, Global
In January 1998, the US Department of Labor reported that, based on CPS data, there were 16.1 million union members among 114.5 million wage and

Enforcement: Child Labor, TIPP
The Associated Press ran a series of stories on child labor in December, locating 165 children working illegally in 16 states, from the chili fields

Florida: H-2A, Suits
In December, Langley Groves in central Florida asked Department of Labor for permission to import orange pickers for work beginning February 7,

Washington, Oregon
There were no reports of labor shortages in the Washington apple harvest in 1997. Washington harvested about 5.5 billion pounds of apples in 1997,

Maine
In Turner, Maine, Mexican immigrants dominate the work force at the DeCoster Egg Farm, the largest brown-egg producer in the US, with 4.5

ALRB Access, Reinstating Illegals
Ivonne Ramos Richardson was confirmed for another five-year term as a member of the ALRB. Trice Harvey was not confirmed; he left the Board, and

Assistance Programs
The federal government spends over $600 million annually to assist migrant and seasonal farm workers and their children. Most of this federal

California: Wages, Data and UI
The federal minimum wage increased from $4.75 to $5.15 on September 1, 1997. The California minimum wage, currently $5, will increase to $5.75

Workers Compensation, Pesticides
Workers compensation programs are federal- and state-operated systems for compensating workers who are injured or develop an incapacitating disease

UFW: Strawberries, Gallo
On September 15, 1997, Safeway pledged its support for the "issues raised by the UFW on behalf of strawberry workers' right to organize, seek

Washington, Indiana
The New York Times on August 19, 1997 described the UFW-Teamster effort to organize 40,000 Washington apple pickers and 15,000 warehouse workers as

Farm Worker Union Finances
Federal labor law requires all "labor organizations" with annual receipts of $100,000 or more to file annual LM-2 reports with the US Department of

MSPA Reform Proposed
The Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act (MSPA or AWPA), CFR 29, Part 500, is a federal law enforced by the wage and hour division of the

Farm Labor Contractors
The California Farmer in August 1997 advised farm employers to hire registered and reliable contractors because of the increased likelihood of

Labor Law Enforcement
The US Employment Service in 1977 established a system of Monitor Advocates for Migrant Seasonal Farmworkers to ensure that migrant and seasonal

ALRB/NLRB Decisions
Union Rights of Unauthorized Workers. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in September 1997 decided that an unauthorized worker who

UFW: Strawberry Campaign
On June 16, 1997, Monsanto Corp sold Gargiulo Inc., the nation's largest grower-cooler-shipper of strawberries that hires harvesters directly, to

FLOC Goes to North Carolina
On May 28, 1997, Baldemar Velazquez, head of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, announced that FLOC would try to organize the several

Farm Labor Contractors
In South Carolina, farm labor contractor Miguel Angel Flores, a Mexican national based in North Florida, and two of his crew leaders, pleaded

H-2A Workers Increase in 1996
The number of temporary foreign workers admitted to the US under the H-2A program, Section 101(a)(15)(H) (ii)(a) of the Immigration and Nationality

Labor Law Enforcement: DOL and Courts
DOL announced in April that it would clarify its enforcement procedures under farm labor laws, including the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural

ALRB/NLRB Decisions
The UFW launched a letter-writing campaign that urged the California Senate not to confirm Trice Harvey, the fourth member of the ALRB, who can

Assistance Programs
The federal government spends over $600 million annually to assist migrant and seasonal farm workers and their children. Most of this federal MSFW

PBS Airs Chavez Documentary
On April 16, 1997, PBS aired a two-hour documentary "The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle," made by Ray Telles and

UFW Steps Up Strawberry Campaign
The 1997 strawberry season began with shipments from southern California, but the UFW focused its organizing activities on the Salinas-Watsonville

UFW: Suits Housing and Unions
The founder of the CRLA, James Lorenz, filed a suit on behalf of two former organizers in January 1997 against the UFW in Santa Cruz County Superior

Other Farm Worker Unions
On March 26, 1997, Teamsters Local 890 and Bud of California, a subsidiary of Salinas-based Dole Fresh Vegetables, announced that they had extended

Farm Workers: Wages and Pesticides
The New York Times on March 31, 1997 reported that farm wages and working conditions have improved since the 1960 TV documentary "Harvest of Shame,"

Enforcement: Child Labor, Joint Employment, TIPP
Representatives of the United States, Mexico and Canada met in San Diego in February 24-25, 1997 to examine the prevalence of child labor and methods

ALRB/NRLA Decisions
The California Governor's budget proposal for 1997-98 includes $4.6 million for the ALRB, up from $4.3 million in 1996-97, and $4 million in

UFW Educates on Strawberries
On November 13, 1996, the UFW held a press conference at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington DC to announce a "Five Cents for Fairness" campaign to

Virginia Farm/Crab Workers
The Richmond Times Dispatch ran three articles on November 10, 1996 about farm workers in Virginia. There are 13,000 migrant farm workers in

No Farm Labor Shortages in 1996
There were no reports of significant farm labor shortages in 1996. In the single most labor-intensive activity in North America, the harvest of

California: TIPP, Housing, and ALRB
The Targeted Industries Partnership Program, a cooperative federal-state labor law enforcement effort, was launched in 1992, reportedly after

Union Cooperation in Washington Apples
The Seattle Times on November 14, 1996 reported that the Teamsters and the United Farm Workers requested no elections in Fall 1996 to represent the

Egg/Mushroom Farms in East
In July, 1996, DeCoster Egg Farms in Maine was fined $3.6 million by the Department of Labor for bad working and housing conditions. Labor Secretary

Florida H-2A Workers Sue; Record Citrus Crop
In January, 1997, a Florida Circuit Court Judge will hear a case against the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida brought by 1,500 Caribbean

Farm Worker Services
In many states, there is no competition for federal grants to serve farm workers. In FY95, there was no competition in 38 states to provide

Farm Worker Pesticide Standard Delayed; Tractor Safety
The EPA, which held nine public hearings and conducted more than 30 site visits between February and August 1996 to gather information on the first

Minority Farmers Allege USDA Discrimination
The number of Black farmers in the US fell from 33,000 in 1982 to 19,000 in 1992. The US had 1.93 million farms in 1992. The number of

No UFW Elections at Strawberry Farms in 1996
During the summer of 1996, UFW efforts to organize strawberry pickers around Watsonville featured prominently in news stories. According to the

Northeastern/Midwestern Farm Workers
Maine is the nation's third-leading producer of broccoli, after California and Arizona, harvesting about 5,000 acres each year and making broccoli

Farm Workers in Idaho and Arizona
Some 22,000 Hispanic farm workers are employed from mid-March through late-October harvesting potatoes, sugar beets and grain in Idaho, and 15,000

Florida Farm Workers
The UFW is attempting to put pressure on Sylvan Incorporated, a leading producer of mushroom spawn (seed) that owns Quincy Farms in Florida, where 85

Labor Law Enforcement
President Clinton on July 29, 1996 vetoed the TEAM Act, which would have eased legal restrictions on "employee involvement" programs in nonunion

ALRB/NLRB/Court Decisions
The Agricultural Labor Relations Board on September 22, 1996 issued two decisions on the access of union organizers to workers on farms. In

UFW Settles Lettuce Case, Organizes Strawberry Workers
On May 29, 1996, the United Farm Workers of America and Bruce Church Inc announced that they had ended one of the longest labor disputes in

Florida Farm Workers
Some 15,000 to 25,000 Mexicans and Central Americans work in agriculture in southern Florida, usually for piecerate wages that generate hourly

Colorado Mushroom Pickers Put off Strike
The Rakhra Mushroom Farm employs 235 Guatemalan and Mexican workers to produce about 20,000 pounds of mushrooms each week, for sales of $10 million

Farm Worker and Labor Contractor definitions.
US courts and the NLRB are deciding that more and more of the persons employed on US farms are nonfarm workers, and thus covered by nonfarm labor

Agricultural Guest Workers
Advocates on both sides of the farm worker debate embraced guest workers for agriculture, even as Congress rejected the idea. Senator John Kyl

Regulating the Farm Labor Market
The Chicago-based National Farm Worker Ministry says that farm work is the most hazardous occupation in the US, with 49 deaths per 100,000

UFW Settles with BCI
On March 29, 1996, the UFW and Salinas vegetable grower Bruce Church, Inc. settled a labor dispute that dates from 1978. Under the pact, the two

House Rejects Guest Workers
Congress in March took up proposals by Senator Alan Simpson (R-WY)--S S269 and S1394--and Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX)--HR2202--to deal with

ALRB: Boycotts and Definitions
The California Supreme Court on April 11 upheld an earlier court of appeal decision which held that the California Table Grape Commission could not

Minimum Wages/Workers Comp
The US minimum wage of $4.25 has fallen to its lowest-ever in relation to average wages. The US Senate held a vote on raising the minimum wage over

Farm Worker Services
The US UI system pays about $25 billion annually to an average two million unemployed workers each week. California requires all employers

California Extends Methyl Bromide Use
On March 12, 1996, Governor Wilson signed a law that permits the use of the soil fumigant methyl bromide through December 1997. The 1984 Birth

US Changes Farm Policies
Basic US farm policies that support farm incomes by establishing minimum prices for crops such as corn and wheat were enacted in 1938 and 1949.

Agricultural Guest Workers
On December 7 and 14, the House Immigration Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims held hearings in Washington, DC on agricultural guest workers.

Adjusting to Farm Labor Shortages
Much of the debate over whether a new guest worker program is needed for agriculture is a debate over how the farm labor market would adjust if the

UFW Activities
The Wall Street Journal published a generally optimistic assessment of the "new" UFW on December 19, 1995--12 straight election victories, most by

ALRB Activities
Michael Stoker was appointed to be the chair of the Agricultural Labor Relations Board in June 1995, and Paul Richardson was appointed General

Regulating the Farm Labor Market
On October 17, 1995, the US House of Representatives approved by a voice vote HR 1715, a bill that reverses the US Supreme Court's March 1990 Adams

NAFTA and Florida/California
On December 6, 1995, Florida farmers dumped produce to publicize what they allege are Mexican imports that are depressing US prices. According to

Pesticides and Farm Workers
California Gov. Pete Wilson called a special session of the Legislature on January 2, 1995 to consider legislation to allow the continued use of a

Florida Farm Workers Protest
In November 1995, 300 workers associated with four farm worker groups organized the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to protest a pay cut, from $4.25

Changes in Federal MSFW Programs
There are 10 federal assistance programs that serve Migrant and Seasonal Farm Workers and their children. Most are administered from an office in

Agricultural Guest Workers
Despite strong statements against agricultural guest workers in June 1995 by both President Clinton and the Jordan Commission on Immigration

Mixtec Farm Workers
There are an estimated 50,000 Mixtec farm workers from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca employed sometime during a typical year in California

Media Covers Farmworkers
A New York writer spent several weeks in California strawberry fields and concluded that cheap and flexible migrant workers are the key to the

UFW Organizes
Striking strawberry harvesters at VCNM Farms, which sells "Well Pict" berries, voted 332-50 on August 17, 1995 to have the UFW represent them. On

Texas A&M Settles Farm Worker Suit
Texas A&M admitted on August 15,1995 that it wrongly paid 400 farm workers employed at 10 of the university's 18 agricultural experiment

US Sugar Mechanizes in Florida
US Sugar, the nation's largest employer of H-2A temporary foreign workers for over 50 years, announced in late June that it would harvest all of

UFW Wins at Washington
In Washington, former House speaker Tom Foley supervised an election held June 2, 1995 in which two-thirds of the 96 year-round workers at the

Farm Worker Assistance Programs
On May 18-19, 1995, a Congress on American Agricultural Labor brought together more than 12 groups that represent and provide services to farm

Guest Workers
As Congress considers legislation that would step up efforts to reduce illegal immigration, western growers have launched a new effort to begin a

Weeding California Fields
The short-handled hoe, known as el cortito, was banned in California in 1975, the same year that the state enacted the Agricultural Labor Relations

FBI Kept Tabs on Chavez
The FBI began collecting information on Cesar Chavez on October 8, 1965, shortly after Chavez's organization joined a grape harvesters' strike

Farm Worker Protection
On May 25, farmers told the House Economic and Educational Opportunities Subcommittee on Workforce Protections that the unanimous 1990 US Supreme

Farm Workers and Immigration
Farm workers are one of only three US occupations with one million or more workers in which the majority of workers are immigrants--the other two

Grape Suit Dismissed
The lawsuit filed by the California Table Grape Commission against the city of San Francisco for banning the sale of table grapes at city-owned

Legal Services Terminated for Elimination
The Republican-controlled Congress began hearings on March 24 to determine if it will cut or eliminate the $415 million budget the Legal Services

Committee Approves ALRB Budget
On the eve of the 20th anniversary of California's Agricultural Labor Relations Act's, June 5, 1995, the state's Legislative Analyst proposed

Welfare Reform Protects H-2A Workers
The House in March 1995 approved a welfare reform proposal that would make most legal aliens ineligible for most federal means-tested benefits,

Farm Workers, Storms and the 1995 Agricultural Outlook
California produces about $20 billion worth of farm commodities annually, which makes agriculture about 2.5 percent of the state's $800 billion

Washington May Repeal Farmworker Safety Rules
A proposal in the Washington State Senate would exclude farm workers from tougher state worker safety rules. The proposed law would prevent the

Farmworker Unions
The United Farm Workers (UFW) union held its twelfth constitutional convention in Fresno, California on September 3-4, 1994. Perhaps more than any

H-2A Re-revised, AgJOBS
The effort to re-engineer the H-2A program continued on September 4, 2009, when the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced revised regulations that

H-2A, H-2B Cases, RICO
There were several cases filed against farm employers and contractors who employed H-2A workers in summer-fall 2009; most involved the admission of

Unauthorized: Border, Interior
The number of unauthorized foreigners in the US fell from 12.5 million in summer 2007 to 10.8 million in early 2009, according to an analysis of

Canada: Unions and Migrants
Farm workers are generally excluded from provincial labor relations laws in Canada, but this exclusion may disappear as unions argue in court that

Australia, UK: Migrants
Australia. Newspaper reports highlighted the use of contractors to act as risk absorbers in fruit-picking in October 2009. Interviews with workers

Mexico: Migration Pressure
Almost 12 million Mexican-born residents live in the US, including some seven million who are unauthorized. Mexico has 110 million residents in

AgJOBS: Provisions, Eligibility
Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) re-introduced the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS) as S 1038 on May 14, 2009; a

Farm Labor: No Shortages
There were more reports of farm labor surpluses than shortages in summer 2009, as many farmers reported that more workers showed up than there were

H-2A: Old-New Rules, Cases
The US Department of Labor (DOL) "re-engineered" the H-2A program in 2008. Revised regulations effective January 17, 2009 made three major changes:

Obama: Immigration Reform?
President Obama met with 30 Congressional leaders on June 25, 2009 to begin "an honest discussion about the issues" involved in comprehensive

DHS: Border, Interior, Services
Border. DHS in May 2009 announced that it would resume construction of a "virtual fence" on the Mexico-US border. The keystone of the deterrence

Canada: SAWP, UK
Some 14,000 Mexicans were admitted to Canada under the SAWP in 2008. Most return at the end of their six- to eight-month contracts as required,

Migrants: UK, Brazil
Migrants: UK, Brazil The National Farmers' Union complained in February 2009 that there was a shortage of at least 5,000 farm workers despite rising unemployment and British worker protests about the employment in the UK of workers from Italy and Portugal.

Australia, New Zealand: Migrants
Australia, New Zealand: Migrants New Zealand and Australia have guest worker programs with Pacific Island countries to fill seasonal farm jobs and

H-2A Re-Engineering, OES
The US Department of Labor (DOL) "re-engineered" its H-2A regulations effective January 17, 2009, converting the H-2A program from a certification to

H-2A Workers: Cases; H-2B
USCIS released nonimmigrant data for FY08, recording 173,100 H-2A admissions; 95 percent were Mexicans. USCIS data count events, not individuals, so

DHS: Border, ICE, USCIS
Governor Janet Napolitano (D-AZ) was confirmed as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security in January 2009. Napolitano said that "it has

Canada: Ontario Farm Workers
The Ontario Court of Appeal in November 2008 ruled that the province's Agricultural Employees Protection Act, which does not require farm employers

Immigration Reform: AgJOBS, EARA
Immigration is not likely to be among the first issues to be tackled by the Obama administration. In 2004, President Bush announced principles for

H-2A Re-Engineering, Braceros
The US Department of Labor (DOL) "re-engineered" its H-2A regulations effective January 17, 2009, converting the H-2A program from a certification to

Canada: SAWP, Unions
SAWP. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) of Canada (http://www.ufcw.ca), has been trying to organize Mexican workers admitted under the

UK: Migrants
The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme allows British farmers to hire foreign farm workers to fill seasonal jobs. In 2005, half of all farm

New Zealand, Australia
Australia and New Zealand, which have important fruit-exporting industries, have begun to import seasonal workers from Pacific Islands in a bid to

Korea, Brazil
Korea. President Lee Myung-bak in December 2008 instructed the Cabinet to give special consideration to farmers requesting foreign workers. Lee

AgJOBS, Shortages
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS), which would legalize up to 1.5 million farm workers and make employer-friendly

H-2A, H-2B Programs
H-2A Program. The US State Department processed 50,791 H-2A work visas for foreign farm workers in FY07. The US Department of Labor certified the

Candidates, E-Verify, Unauthorized
Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Barack Obama (D-IL) have supported "comprehensive immigration reform," which means coupling more enforcement with a

Canada: SAWP
Canadian farmers import foreign workers under several programs. The largest is the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), which admits workers

Australia, New Zealand, UK
Australia relies increasingly on foreign Working Holidaymakers and students to fill seasonal farm jobs. Over 135,000 Working Holidaymaker visas were

AgJOBS, EARA, Mechanization
AgJOBS remained a top priority for farm employer and worker groups during the summer of 2008. Both argued that the status quo is untenable. The

H-2A: Regulations, Growth
Department of Labor on February 6, 2008 proposed regulations to modify the H-2A program to make it easier for farmers to obtain guest workers. Some

ICE Raids, No Match, Shortages
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency targets mostly farm-related industries such as meatpacking for worksite enforcement. However,

H-2B: Regulation Changes, J-1
The Bush administration in May 2008 proposed regulations to "streamline" the application process for the H-2B program and strengthen "program

Canada: SAWP
The Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives released a report in June 2008 that concluded labor laws protecting farm workers are not well enforced in

Brazil, Britain
Brazil. The Brazilian Sugar Cane Industry Association (Unica) in June 2008 predicted that up to 500,000 sugarcane harvesting jobs would be eliminated

Worksite Enforcement, Shortages
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, five years old in 2008, plans to expand targeted worksite enforcement.

H-2A, H-2B
DOL proposed regulations on February 7, 2008 to modify the H-2A program to make it easier for farmers to obtain guest workers.

States: Immigration
State legislatures have been flooded with bills to deal with immigration, over 600 in January-February 2008, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

RICO Suits
Chicago lawyer Howard W. Foster has pioneered the practice of filing Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act suits against employers who hire unauthorized workers.

Spain: Strawberries, Migrants
About 90 percent of Spain's strawberries are grown in the southwestern province of Huelva.

Canada: SAWP
The Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) has been admitting Caribbean farm workers since 1966 and Mexican farm workers since 1974.

Oceania, UK: Migrants
New Zealand admits up to 5,000 Pacific Islanders from 11 countries to fill jobs in agriculture for up to seven months.

Canada, Ireland, Japan
Canada. The United Food and Commercial Workers Canada released its annual report on the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program in November 2007,

AgJOBS, Shortages
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act (S340/H371) would allow up to 1.5 million unauthorized farm workers to "earn" a legal

H-2A TEGL, H-2B
The H-2 program in the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act was very short, with most details left to implementing regulations. In drafting the

Enforcement: Swift, Crider
No-Match. DHS announced a no-match enforcement strategy on August 10, 2007 to encourage employers to fire workers whose data do not match government

DHS: No Match Letters
On August 10, 2007, the Department of Homeland Security announced 26 measures to discourage illegal immigration, including enlisting the Social

DHS: Other Enforcement
In September 2007, DHS sued the state of Illinois, which enacted a law prohibiting employers from using the E-Verify system to check newly hired

Congress: AgJOBS
Many agricultural leaders and their supporters in Congress said that the new DHS policy on no-match letters highlighted the need to enact the

Farm Labor Shortages, Mechanization
There were predictions of farm labor shortages in summer-fall 2007. The Wall Street Journal in a July 20, 2007 editorial claimed that "farmers

H-2A, H-2B, Global
The demise of immigration reform legislation in the Senate in May-June 2007 amid predictions of farm labor shortages prompted another round of

Canada, UK, Australia, S. Africa
FERME. There are about 3,200 Mexican workers employed on 318 Quebec farms in summer 2007, plus additional workers from Guatemala; most earn about

Farm Labor Shortages
As harvesting moved from south to north within California in spring 2007, there were reports of farm labor shortages. Table grapes in the Coachella

H-2A, Global, H-2B
H-2A. The number of farm jobs certified by DOL to be filled with temporary foreign workers rose sharply in FY06 to 59,112; there were 48,366 jobs

AgJOBS and CIRA 2007
The Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act or AgJOBS (S 340 and HR 371) was introduced as stand-alone legislation in January 2007

Labor-Saving Mechanization
The Bracero program ended in 1964, helping the UFW to win 40 percent wage increases in grape contracts in 1966. There was also a wave of

UK, Germany, Canada, Spain
UK. The Gangmasters Licensing Authority requires labor contractors to be registered. Investigative reports in spring 2007 found some who were not.

Immigration Reform: AgJOBS
The Senate Judiciary Committee took up immigration reform on February 28, 2007. Bush administration officials endorsed an expanded guest worker

H-2A, H-2B Programs
Some 170 H-2A workers sued Florida-based Ag-Mart Produce in January 2007, alleging they were underpaid between June 2005 and July 2006 while picking

Farm Labor Shortages
Most news stories in California in winter 2007 emphasized the unemployment and lost earnings of workers displaced by the freeze, but some reported

Enforcement: Border, Interior
Border. The New York Times reported on February 21, 2007 that migrants were being deterred from entering the US along the Arizona-Mexico border.

Canada, UK, Middle East
Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program brings migrants from the Caribbean and Mexico to work on Canadian farms. Many work in the

Enforcement: Swift Fallout, Mismatches
Over 1,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on December 12, 2006 raided six Swift & Company beef and pork processing plants that employed a

Immigration Reform: AgJOBS
There were high hopes that the November 2006 elections that gave Democrats a majority in both houses of Congress would lead to approval of the

Farm Labor Shortages
Washington Apple grower Broetje Orchards reported not harvesting 400 of its 5,400 acres of apples, in part because of fewer pickers and higher wages.

H-2A, H-2B Programs
H-2A. There are three separate concepts involved in guest worker programs: certifications, visas issued and admissions. In FY05, 6,602 farm

World Briefs
Canada. Four mushroom pickers with over five years experience were fired in June 2006 by Rol-Land Farms in Kingsville, Ontario after they signed

Farm Labor Shortages
Unemployment rates are a widely accepted measure of labor surpluses, but no government agency certifies labor shortages. Employers in areas with

AgJOBS, SAWs
The Senate heard emotional pleas for approval of the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act (AgJOBS) program on September 29, 2006,

H-2A, H-2B Programs
H-2A. Suits are pending in three states, Washington, California and Hawaii, that allege Los Angeles-based Global Horizons underpaid H-2A workers from

Enforcement: ICE, States, Cities
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has stepped up inspections of employers, bringing 445 criminal charges against employers in the first 10

UK, Canada
UK. The Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) allows British farmers to employ non-EU migrant workers seasonally in crop and livestock

Senate Approves CIRA
The Senate approved the 300-page Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (S2611) on a 62-36 vote on May 25, 2006. CIRA deals with border enforcement in

H-2A, H-2B Programs
H-2A Current. Three concepts and federal agencies are involved in H-2A data: job vacancies certified, visas issued, and workers admitted. In

RICO, Sanctions
Chicago lawyer Howard Foster has filed several Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act suits against employers of unauthorized workers,

Global: UK, Germany
British farmers can hire Eastern Europeans to pick crops seasonally. S&A Produce (http://www.hereford.uk.com/sa/), owned by John Davies, is Europe's

Senate: No Agreement
The Senate debated immigration reform in March-April 2006, but had not approved a bill when the sessions recessed on April 7. There appeared to be

Farm Labor Shortages
The Sacramento Bee on January 30, 2006 reported that fewer young and legal Mexican workers were crossing the border daily to harvest winter

H-2A, H-2B
H-2A. The H-2A program permits US farm employers to hire legal foreign workers to fill temporary farm jobs, usually those lasting 10 months or less.

Braceros: History, Compensation
The US had two Bracero or guest worker programs under which Mexicans were recruited to work on US farms under the terms of bilateral agreements. The

Canada, Australia, Taiwan
Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Worker program admits about 18,000 Mexican and Caribbean farm workers each year for up to ten months. Miguel

Farm Labor Shortages
In Spring 2005, farmers in the California-Arizona border-area complained of too few workers to harvest lettuce and other vegetables. The farmers

Legislation: House, AgJOBS
Many House Republicans, including the chair of House Judiciary Committee, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), want to put new enforcement

RICO, H-2A, H-2B
RICO. In March 2000, a class-action suit was filed on behalf of several legal immigrant workers by Hagens Berman LLP in Yakima, Washington under the

Braceros, Canada
About 10 percent of the wages earned by Bracero guest workers between 1942 and 1949 were withheld and returned to Mexican banks by US banks. These

UK: Gangmasters
The Gangmasters (Licensing) Act of July 2004 required farm and fishery labor contractors as well as those who supply workers to food processing

Sanctions, FLCs, Labor Markets
Canyon County in southwest Idaho filed a racketeering lawsuit against several agricultural companies accused of hiring illegal immigrants in an

Thai H-2As, Braceros
The state of Washington reached a $230,000 settlement with California-based Global Horizons in September 2005 over the treatment of 170 Thai workers

Canada, Europe
The United Food and Commercial Workers Canada persuaded Ontario to extend the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act to also cover

Shortages, AgJOBS
There were many reports of "farm labor shortages" in the Central Valley. The Fresno Bee on August 7, 2005 reported that the supply of farm workers

AgJOBS, McCain-Kennedy
The Agricultural Jobs, Benefits and Security Act would allow currently unauthorized farm workers to earn an immigrant status and make it easier for

H-2A, H-2B, Braceros
Many mid-Georgia peach growers have turned to AgWorks Inc to obtain H-2A seasonal workers for pruning, thinning, picking and packing. AgWorks is run

Canada: Seasonal Workers
Canada's Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program is expanding in British Columbia from fewer than 50 Mexican workers in 2004 to over 300 in 2005. The

Border, Sanctions
The 10.3 million unauthorized foreigners in the US in the March 2004 Current Population Survey were almost four percent of the 293 million US

UK, New Zealand
Gangmasters is the British term for labor contractors, and there are several thousand who supply up to 100,000 workers to farms and food processing

Unauthorized, Border, AgJOBS
Demographer Jeff Passel estimated that there were 10.3 million unauthorized foreigners in the US in March 2004, up from 8.4 million in 2000,

H-2A, H-2B, SSNs
The H-2A (agriculture) and H-2B (nonfarm) programs are the major doors through which legal unskilled guest workers can enter the US to fill seasonal

Canada, Mexico
The Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program allows the importation of about 18,000 seasonal farm workers from the Caribbean and Mexico each

Europe: UK
The UK has a series of schemes or programs that permit the entry of foreign workers; their goal is to fill unfilled jobs and to reduce illegal

Bush: Migrants
During his year-end press conference on December 20, 2004, President Bush said: "it makes sense to allow the good-hearted people who are coming here

H-2As, Braceros
Some 6,564 farm employers requested 45,716 H-2A workers in FY03, and DOL certified the need of 6,360 farmers for 44,033 workers, that is, 97 percent

Border, Sanctions
The Border Patrol reported 1,159,802 apprehensions on the Mexico-US border in FY04, up from 931,557 in FY03 and 955,310 in FY02. Each person

Canada: Migrants
Canada's Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Workers Program admitted almost 19,000 seasonal farm workers in 2004, including 300 from Guatemala. Most

Quest for AgJOBS
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act of 2003 (AgJOBS, S.1645, H.R.3142) had the support of 63 U.S. senators and 117

Border, Sanctions
Border. The Department of Homeland Security in August 2004 announced that the 11,100 Border Patrol agents will be able to remove unauthorized

Canada
The Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Workers Program brought 18,755 farm workers to Canada in 2004; about 10,000 are Mexican. Most work 10- to 12-hour

AgJOBS Setback
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act (AgJOBS) was not attached to must-pass bills in the Senate in July 2004. Supporters

H-2A, H-2B Programs
The North Carolina Growers Association, headed by Stan Eury, brings 8,500 H-2A workers from Mexico to the US each year. Most H-2A workers report

Mexico-Canada Guest Workers
The Commonwealth Caribbean (1966) and Mexican (1974) Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) admits foreign workers for seasonal employment on

Britain, Russia
UK. British farmers employ over 25,000 mostly Eastern European workers to harvest and pack fruits and vegetables, and disputes about their housing

Border, Interior Enforcement
Border. Apprehensions of Mexicans just inside the US border totaled 1.1 million in FY03, and are on track to top 1.2 million in FY04; there were

AgJOBS, Bush, H-visas
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security Act of 2003 (S.1645 and H.R. 3142) continued to gain support. Democratic presidential

Congress: Guest Workers
Senator Saxby Chambliss (R.-Ga.), the chair of the Senate immigration subcommittee, introduced S.2185 to reform the H-2A program; a similar bill,

Tyson, Sanctions
Tyson Foods told 268 workers at its Dakota City, Nebraska, meatpacking plant in March 2004 not to report to work again until they could provide work

Hoffman Curbed?
The US Supreme Court in March 2002 ruled that unauthorized workers who are wrongly fired for union organizing are not entitled to back pay for the

Canada, Australia, UK
Canada's Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program began with 264 Jamaican seasonal workers in 1966 and today admits about 18,000

H-2A, Braceros
The Western Range Association and a Kern County rancher Ben Ansolabehere paid $20,000 to a Peruvian sheepherder who alleged he faced

AgJOBS, Guest Workers
President Bush on January 7, 2004 unveiled a program that would permit the six to eight million unauthorized foreigners in the US with jobs to

Canada: SAWP, BC
The Commonwealth Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program admits foreign workers for seasonal employment on Canadian farms.

Sanctions Enforcement
On October 23, 2003, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested 250 illegal migrants who worked as janitors for outside contractors at 60

Canada, Europe
The Ontario Canada government does not allow agricultural workers to join a union and bargain collectively. Despite this prohibition, the Ontario

Immigration Enforcement
Austin "Jack" DeCoster, one of Iowa's largest egg producers, pleaded guilty in August 2003 to federal immigration violations and agreed to pay a

H-2A, H-2B, Braceros
DHS reported that 15,600 H-2A workers were admitted in FY02, down sharply from 27,700 in FY01, while the number of H-2B worker admissions jumped to

AgJOBS: Round 2
The Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2003 (S 1645 and HR 3142), co-sponsored by US Senators Edward Kennedy, (D-Mass) and

Canada: Guest Workers
Saskatchewan in 2003 became the eighth province to participate in the Commonwealth Caribbean and Mexican Seasonal Agricultural Workers

Britain: Migrants
UK government data suggest that about 75,000 workers are hired each year for seasonal jobs on British farms and packinghouses, including

Employer Sanctions
The federal government has brought relatively few cases charging employers with knowingly hiring unauthorized foreign workers. Despite

Guest Workers, H-2A, H-2B
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced a "blue-card" guest worker plan in July 2003 that would allow US employers to sponsor an unlimited number

UK: Foreign Farm Workers
The UK has had a Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) since 1945 to allow foreign students to work on British farms.

Canada: Guest Workers
Canada admitted about 17,000 foreign farm workers for seasonal employment on Canadian farms in 2002

The Bracero Program
Most calls for a new guest worker program with Mexico begin with the assertion that the proposal will NOT be like the discredited Bracero program

New Guest Workers for Ag?
The US has a program called H-2A that allows farm employers anticipating labor shortages to apply to the US Department of Labor

Sanctions: Tyson Acquitted
After a seven-week trial, Tyson Foods and several managers of poultry processing plants were acquitted in March 2003

Mexico: Migrants: NAFTA
Before September 11, 2001, there was an expectation in the Mexican government that the US and Mexico would soon reach an agreement on legalizing

H-2As: California
Harry Singh & Sons, a San Diego county tomato grower, was certified by DOL to hire up to 200 H-2A workers between September 26 and December 1,

H-2Bs: Maine
A maximum 66,000 foreign workers a year may receive H-2B visas and enter the US to fill temporary nonfarm jobs for up to one year; the INS does not

Unauthorized Migrants, RICO, Tyson
Tyson Foods Inc., the largest US poultry processor, was indicted December 19, 2001, charged with 36 counts of recruiting unauthorized workers from

Canada: Migrants, Unions
A coalition of trade union and community activists launched the Global Justice CareVan Project in 2001, and resumed activities in 2002. In June

Unauthorization and RICO Suits
In March 2000, a class-action suit was filed on behalf of several legal immigrant workers by Hagens Berman LLP in Yakima, Washington under the

Legalization for Mexican Workers
A great deal has changed in the past year. On September 5, 2001, President Bush said: "the United States has no more important relationship in the

H-2A, Braceros
In Arriaga v. Florida Pacific Farms, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that, under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employers requesting

Sanctions: INS vs Tyson
On December 11, 2001, the US filed its largest-ever employer sanctions case, United States v. Tyson Foods Inc. in the Eastern District of Tennessee,

H-2A: California, South, Mexico
Ralph DeLeon, a custom harvester/FLC in Ventura county, brought 38 H-2A workers from Mexico to California to harvest lemons in March-April 2002.

SAW, Social Security
The Seasonal Agricultural Workers program attracted 1.3 million applications from foreigners who said they did at least 90 days of farm work in

Border: Apprehensions Down
From October 2001 through April 2002, border apprehensions dropped 38 percent to 526,000, the lowest level since 1985; the INS expects fewer than one

Mexico: Policy, Remittances, Braceros
Mexican President Fox has so far failed to achieve his major foreign policy initiative, progress toward a borderless North America. Mexicans note

New Guest Workers?
There are about 2.5 million workers employed sometime during the year on US farms. Many are employed only for a few days or weeks; average hired

Labor Supply, H-2A
There was much speculation about how many farm workers would be available in 2002. Did large numbers of seasonal Mexican workers return to Mexico

Tyson: Sanctions, Safety
Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world's largest poultry processors, was indicted December 19, 2001, charged with 36 counts of recruiting illegal workers

Mexico, Canada
Several Mexican state governments recruit workers for US employers who have been certified to have H-2A or H-2B workers admitted to the US, following

Tyson Indicted
Tyson Foods Inc., one of the world's largest poultry processors, was indicted December 19, 2001, charged with 36 counts of recruiting illegal workers

September 11 and Farm Workers 2002
The Food and Drug Administration issued voluntary guidelines urging criminal background checks on workers hired by food companies and farms to

H-2A, Canada
The U.S. Department of Labor is holding hearings around the US on regulations proposed in July 2000 to streamline the H-2A program, which allows US

Mexico: Bracero Lawsuits
The US signed a bilateral bracero (person who works with arms or hands) program with Mexico on July 23, 1942. The first Mexican workers arrived in

Terrorism, Guest Workers
On September 11, 2001, four commercial planes were hijacked in the US. Using the planes as bombs, the hijackers flew two into the World Trade Center

H-2A Programs
The number of farm jobs certified as needing to be filled by H-2A foreign workers tripled in the late 1990s, from 15,100 in FY95 to 44,000 in FY00.

Canada: Ag Guest Workers
In 2000, some 7,300 Mexicans were among the 16,900 foreign farm workers admitted to Canada; the non-Mexicans were from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados

Legalization: 245(i), SAWs
The Legal Immigration Family Equity Act (LIFE) restored, until April 30, 2001, the 245(i) provision of immigration law that allows foreigners

Guest Workers, Braceros
The major immigration issues facing the new administration and Congress are: (1) whether and how to break up the INS into separate enforcement and

Canada, Mexico Farm Labor
Eric Schmitt, "Bush Aides Weigh Legalizing Status of Mexicans in U.S," New York Times, July 15, 2001. Ricardo Sandoval, "Guest-workers' refunds

H-2A, H-2B
The H-2A program is the major program through which US farmers anticipating labor shortages can legally secure the services of temporary foreign farm

Guest Workers: Mexico-US Negotiations
Mexican President Vicente Fox and US President George Bush met on February 16, 2001 in San Cristobal, Mexico, Fox's hometown in the state of

Braceros: Lost Savings?
The US signed a bilateral bracero (person who works with arms or hands) program with Mexico on June 23, 1942, and over the next 22 years, some 4.6

H-2A: AEWR, Sheep, H-2Bs
DOL announced that it would not publish 2001 Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR) for at least 60 days until it reviews the fairness and accuracy of the

Canadian Guest Workers
Ontario's Foreign Seasonal Farmworker Program for Agriculture admitted about 14,500 foreign workers in 2000, including 7,000 from Mexico; 5,000 from

No Guest Workers
Congress did not approve a new guest worker program for agriculture in 2000, leaving US agriculture with a seasonal farm work force that is about 55

H-2A Program
The H-2A program is currently the only guest worker program for farm employers seeking temporary foreign workers. Certification means that a US

New Guest Workers
Negotiations over a new guest worker program for agriculture continued, with growers arguing for a program, called AgJOBS or the Agricultural Job

H-2A: Data, Sheep, Sugar
The Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project sued several Sheridan, Michigan companies that allegedly recruited at least 25 Mexican workers in

Guest Workers H-2A to H-2C?
Farmers have been trying for most of the 1990s to secure Congressional approval of an alternative to the H-2A program, which allows US farmers

Canadian Guest Workers
Canada admits about 15,000 foreign farm workers each year for seasonal employment on Canadian farms. In 1999, some 7,640 seasonal foreign farm

Guest Workers
There are two major guest worker proposals pending in Congress: S1814, the Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits And Security Act of 1999 (AgJOBS),

H-2A: Suits, Sheep
The Migrant Farmworker Justice Project in Belle Glade, Florida filed a class-action lawsuit against International Paper, Georgia-Pacific and

Guest Workers
On October 27, 1999, Senators Bob Graham (D-FL), Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Larry Craig (R-ID) introduced a bill sought by growers—S1814, the

Bracero Questions Linger
Some 4.6 million Bracero contracts were issued to one to two million Mexicans between 1942 and 1964. Some individuals returned year after year,

Agricultural Guest Workers
In the early 1980s, the percentage of unauthorized workers among US farm workers was 20 to 25 percent and rising, farm wages and benefits were flat

H-2As, Mechanization, h-2Bs
The US State Department issued 27,061 H-2A visas to foreign farm workers in 1998, up sharply from 20,689 in 1997. About 80 percent of H-2A farm

INS: Border
A farm labor contractor in Florida, Abel Cuello Jr., was sentenced to 33 months in prison by a federal court in Tampa in October 1999 and ordered

Guest Workers: Advocates Change
Growers began their 1999 push for a new guest worker program at a May 12, 1999 hearing before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration. The theme

INS Enforcement
In January 1999, the INS audited the payroll records of 13 fruit packing warehouses and found that 30 to 70 percent of the work force was

INS: Raids, Do Not Hire
Fewer Workplace Raids. The INS announced in March 1999 that it was adopting a new interior enforcement strategy, de-emphasizing workplace

Mexico Wants Guest Workers
After a March meeting between the US and Mexican labor secretaries, former Mexican Labor Secretary Jose Antonio Gonzalez said that Mexico would ask

H-2A in California
In September 1998 and again in December 1998, the US Department of Labor certified the need for nonimmigrant foreign workers to harvest crops in

Reorganizing Labor Certification
Employers requesting permission to employ temporary unskilled foreigners or to sponsor permanent immigrants must receive certification from the

H-2A Program: Changes Proposed
On October 2, 1998, the Department of Labor published "streamlining" revisions to its H-2A regulations, 20 CFR Parts 654 and 655, in the

INS: Smuggling, Not Sanctions
Despite an announcement by INS Commissioner Doris Meissner that "The focus of our worksite enforcement needs increasingly to be directed at

Congress: Guest Workers
In October, Congress did NOT approve a new temporary foreign worker program for agriculture. The proposal not accepted by Congress was

Labor Shortages California, Other States
During the summer of 1998, grower organizations announced a series of farm labor shortages, asserting that there were only half the workers needed

DOL: H-2A Changes
The Department of Labor on October 2 proposed changes to streamline the H-2A program (Federal Register, 53243-53249). The proposed changes

INS: Enforcement
The Wall Street Journal profiled the practice of IBP Inc., the largest meatpacking company in the US, to recruit workers in Mexico. IBP runs

Southeast: Vidalia Onions
The INS operation "Southern Denial" in mid-May 1998 apprehended 21 workers in Glennville in southeastern Georgia, home of the $90 million a year

Congress: Guest Workers
On June 24, 1998, the Senate Immigration subcommittee held a hearing on agricultural guest workers that focused on how the current H-2A program

Congress: Guest Workers
The House immigration subcommittee on March 12 voted 7-2 in support of a pilot guest worker program that would permit US farmers to hire foreign

Enforcement, Green Cards
The INS will have 8,000 Border Patrol agents by the end of 1998, double the 4,000 in 1993, and 1,000 more than in 1997. INS Commissioner Doris

GAO Issues H-2A Report
The GAO issued a report on December 31, 1997 that concluded there are "no national agricultural labor shortage at this time" and that "A

HR 2377, Other Guest Worker Issues
Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduced S.1563, a 24-month pilot program identical to H.R. 2377, introduced by Rep. Bob Smith (R-OR). H.R. 2377, the

INS Enforcement
The GAO issued a 101-page report in December that concluded the INS has no effective means of determining whether border control strategies such as

Growers Press for Changes
On August 1, 1997, Rep. Bob Smith (R-OR) introduced HR 2377, a bill that would create a 24-month pilot program for 25,000 temporary foreign

INS: Border and Work-Place Enforcement
The INS is charged with preventing unauthorized aliens from entering the US, and from obtaining US jobs. The INS has launched several high-profile

NAFTA
On November 1, 1997, the first Mexican avocados since 1914 are expected to arrive in the 19 northeastern states of the US. Mexico produces about 67

INS Enforcement
The INS seems to have stepped up employer sanctions enforcement in the midwest, northwest and southeastern states, and the results of most INS work

Guest Workers
For each of the past five years, proposals have been introduced into Congress to launch a guest worker program for US farmers. On January 21, 1997,

INS: IIRIA and Apprehensions
Many provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996--IIRIRA-- went into effect as scheduled on April 1, 1997,

Welfare Changes Continue
The 1996 welfare law made a major change in the relationship between immigrants and the social safety net, shifting US policy from generally making

Five Million Illegal Aliens in US
The INS on February 7, 1997 released new estimates of the population of resident illegal aliens, estimating that there were five million unauthorized

Naturalization Controversy
Some 1.3 million foreigners applied to become naturalized US citizens in FY96 and 1.1 million became US citizens. The INS estimates that 1.8 million

Ethnic Voting in Fall 1996 Elections
Recently-naturalized US citizens voted overwhelmingly for Clinton in November 1996. An estimated 71 percent of Hispanics voted for Clinton. Only in

Assessing 1996 Immigration Changes
In 1996, three major laws that affect immigrants and immigration were enacted: The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, signed into law

Welfare/Immigration Reform Implementation
About 1.5 million of the nation's four million adult welfare recipients are likely to lose welfare benefits in the next few years and an additional

Dual Citizenship for Mexicans
The Mexican Senate and Chamber of Deputies approved legislation on December 10, 1996 that would permit Mexicans who become naturalized US citizens to

Immigration and Welfare Changes
In 1996, three major pieces of legislation were signed into law that will affect immigrants: the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act,

Naturalization Controversy
As the number of newly-naturalized US citizens surpassed 1.1 million in FY96, Republicans stepped up their attacks on Citizenship USA, the

Poverty in America
In 1995, some 36 million US residents, 14 percent of the population, lived in households with below-poverty level incomes. The poverty line--three

Congress Works to Revise Immigration Law
As Congress struggled to reconcile the immigration bills approved by the US House of Representatives in March, 1996, and by the Senate in May 1996,

Congress Works to Revise Immigration Law
As Congress struggled to reconcile the immigration bills approved by the US House of Representatives in March, 1996, and by the Senate in May 1996,

INS: Legal Immigration, Enforcement, and Asylum
The INS was criticized by Congressional leaders of immigration subcommittees in May 1996 for "misleading" the public about future immigration

INS Raids Farms
Independent Agricultural Workers Union leader Ventura Gutierrez pressed the INS to check Altman Specialty Plants in San Diego county for

Migrant Beatings
On April 1, two white Riverside county sheriff's deputies were taped beating two unauthorized Mexican aliens who had led them on an 80 mile

Hispanic Unemployment
AFOP Washington Newsline, September 1995. Ray Quintanilla, "New US Rules weeding out children of migrants," Chicago Tribune, July 28, 1995. Martin,

INS: Asylum, Naturalization, and Deportation
On January 4, 1996, the INS released its report card on asylum reforms implemented one year earlier. The number of new asylum claims filed fell

Gatekeeper and Farm Workers
On October 1, 1994, the Immigration and Naturalization Service launched Operation Gatekeeper, an effort to prevent unauthorized aliens from

Regulating the Immigrant Labor Market
On July 11, Secretary of Labor Robert Reich held a press conference near Fresno, California to announce that so far in FY95, DOL had assessed

Immigration Reforms in Congress
The Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration held a hearing September 13 on legal immigration reform, and another on September 28

INS: Apprehensions and Naturalizations Up
Apprehensions at the US-Mexican border were up 26 percent to 1 million in the first 10 months of FY95--there were 815,000 apprehensions in the same

CIR Recommends Less Immigration
The nine-member U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, headed by Barbara Jordan, recommended at a press conference June 7 that legal immigration be

Citizen Children
There are estimated to be one million US citizen children who have illegal alien parents, including 114,000 in Los Angeles county who are receiving

California's 1971 Employer Sanctions Law
In the wake of Governor Wilson's admission that an illegal alien worked in his household in the late 1970s, a review of Wilson's role in

Illegal Immigration
Illegal immigration appears to be increasing, as indicated by surveys in Mexico of persons intending to emigrate, apprehension data, and reports

Predicting Mexico - US Migration
The spring and summer of 1995 will provide a test of how well beefed-up US border controls can cope with sharp increases in Mexican emigration

Guest Workers?
The United States today has 12 programs through which US employers can legally employ foreign workers as non immigrants, meaning that the foreign

Judge Curbs Police Immigraiton Rules
A federal judge in Oakland has ruled that Napa County sheriffs and local police can no longer conduct raids to search for undocumented or illegal

Mexican Farm Exports
One of the first beneficiaries of the peso devaluation were Mexican fruit and vegetable exporters who saw their potential profits rise 50 percent

Another Bracero Program Considered
On December 13, the Inter-American Institute on Migration and Labor organized a meeting of 25 farm worker advocates in Washington DC to discuss the

Devaluation and Emigration From Mexico
Mexican migration to the US, which averaged about 300,000 settlers and 800,000 to two million sojourners per year over the past decade, is expected

California: Sales, Strawberries
California had farm sales of almost $37 billion in 2007, almost double the $19 billion (each) of number two Texas and number three Iowa. Leading

Food Safety, Europe Subsidies
Food Safety. The Food Safety Enhancement Act (FSEA) of 2009 broadens the power of the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates about 80 percent

Wine and Food
As California wineries began to crush wine grapes in fall 2009, many growers worried about finding a home for their grapes. Many sell wine under

Global: Land, Dole, Wal-Mart
Some richer countries with too little land to grow food are buying or leasing land in poorer countries to produce food that will be exported back to

World Bank: Ag Sustainability
Agriculture is a unique industry riddled with contradictions, including the tendency of governments to subsidize wealthier-than-average farmers in

Wine and Food
Sales of wine priced at over $25 a bottle are falling, threatening the viability of some Napa-based wineries that began selling wine with the past

Global: Flu, Dole, EU
Swine Flu. A new swine flu virus, the H1N1 strain, was declared a pandemic in June 2009. The virus mutated from pigs to humans and developed the

Climate Change and Ag; AB 32
The House approved the 1,200-page American Clean Energy and Security Act by a 219-212 vote on June 26, 2009. The ACESA aims to reduce US greenhouse

California: FVH Crops, Dairies
Batelle conducted a study for Produce Marketing Association that estimated the fresh fruit, vegetable, and horticultural specialty (floral) industry

US: Food Safety
Food Safety. There are two major federal agencies responsible for the safety of US food. USDA has about 7,800 inspectors to check meat and eggs,

COA 2007: Labor
The Census of Agriculture for 2007 was released in February 2009. (www.agcensus.usda.gov) It reported that the 2.2 million US farms had sales of

California Agriculture: Water
Water. The 500,000-acre Delta region, where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meet, is the transit point for water transfers from northern

US Food: Salmonella, Food Safety
Net farm income, $87 billion in 2007 and $89 billion in 2008, reached record levels with high commodity prices. However, falling commodity prices

Wine and Food
California crushed almost 3.1 million tons of wine grapes in 2008, down six percent from 2007 (the total crush was 3.7 million tons, including grapes

Global: Water, China, Chile
Most of the world is covered by water, but only three percent is available for use as fresh water. An average one liter of water is required to

Food Costs and Labor Costs: 2007
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistic's Consumer Expenditure Survey, there were 120 million "consumer units" in 2007. They had an average of

US, EU
USDA projected net farm income of $87 billion in 2008, about the same as in 2007 but far above the $60 billion a year average of the past decade.

Wine and Food
Wine. California growers received an average price for wine grapes of $522 a ton in 2007; $626 for red varieties and $482 for white varieties. The

Global: CO2, China, Fish, Potatoes
Representatives of 187 countries met in Poznan, Poland to discuss ways of combating global warming under the UN Framework Convention on Climate

California: Crops, Prop 2
Almonds have been a success story for California farmers, with prices and production rising. However, prices fell from $2 a pound in 2007 to $1 a

California: $37 billion in 2007
California's farm sales were a record $36.6 billion in 2007, up 15 percent from $31.8 billion for 2006; exports are expected to top $10 billion in

Salmonella, COOL
The Food and Drug Administration in July 2008 announced that the cause of the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak that sickened more than 1,400 people

Wine and Food
California expects to crush 3.4 million tons of wine grapes in 2008, and grower prices are expected to be higher. About 70 percent of the state's

Global: Doha, Food Prices, Water
The Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations, launched in 2001, apparently collapsed in July 2008. The sticking point was a demand by developing

California: Strawberries, Vegetables, Water
Strawberries. California has 35,500 acres of strawberries in 2008. Most growers expect to employ about 1.5 workers per acre without a conveyor belt

US Food System, Salmonella
The US food and fiber system accounted for 12.3 percent of GDP in 2001 and 16.7 percent of employment, almost 24 million workers. The system is

US: Farm, Energy Policy
Farm. Congress approved a five-year $307 billion farm bill, the Food, Conservation and Energy Act, in May 2008. President Bush promptly vetoed it

Global Food Prices Up
Rapidly rising food prices led to political instability in Egypt, Haiti and the Philippines in spring 2008. The World Bank in April 2008 said that

Wine, Champagne
Napa's Charles Krug winery, the area's oldest, was purchased by Cesare Mondavi for $43,000 in 1943. Sons Robert and Peter Mondavi disagreed on the

Global Networks, Food Miles
Global production networks (GPNs) are the interactions between firms and policies that result in the provision of goods and services. Increasingly,

Text for Graph
US production of fruits and vegetables rose from about 77 million tons a year between 1990 and 1992 to 83 million tons a year between 2004 and 2006.

US: Land, Meat, Labor
US farmers harvest about 300 million acres each year. In an effort to reduce production and conserve farm land, the federal government has been paying farmers an average $51 an acre to put some of their land into a conservation reserve.

California: Crops, Pesticides, Water
California's production of fresh market vegetables rose to 12.3 million tons in 2007, up three percent over 2006.

Food Prices, Sustainability
The price of rice and many other staple foods has risen sharply, prompting protests in many poor countries.

Global: Dole, Palm Oil, Salmon
A Los Angeles jury in November 2007 awarded $3.3 million to six of 12 Nicaraguan farm workers who had sued Dole Food, alleging that they were made sterile by a Dow-made soil fumigant, DBCP, that was used in the 1970s on Dole plantations in Nicaragua.

Wine and Food
Americans bought 313 million cases of wine in 2007 worth $30 billion or $95 a case, suggesting an average retail price of $7.92 a bottle (313 million cases entered trade channels- it is possible that not all of it was purchased in 2007).

California: Commodities, Water, Bees
Peaches. California farmers produced an average 524,000 tons of cling peaches (used for canning) between 1996 and 2005; the 2007 crop was about

US Agriculture, Fruits and Vegetables
USDA projected record US crop sales in 2007, some $148 billion or up $30 billion from 2006 because of sharply higher prices for corn, whose sales are

US Farm Bill, Sugar, Meat
The House approved its version of the farm bill in July 2007; the Senate approved its version, the 1,360-page Food and Energy Security Act of 2007,

Global: NAFTA, Chile, Dole
NAFTA. Mexico's national forestry commission (Conafor) reported that more Mexicans are buying home-grown Christmas trees. About two-thirds of the

Wine and Food
California. California's wine grape harvest averaged three million tons a year between 1997 and 2006, but reached a record 3.8 million tons in 2005.

California: Commodities, Water
California had farm sales of $31.4 billion in 2006, down slightly from $31.7 billion in 2005, largely because of low prices for milk. As counties

US: Policy, Corn, PETA
The House in July 2007 approved a $286 billion farm bill for 2007-2012 that continues the basic system that has been in place since the 1930s.

Global: Doha, GMOs, Meat
A four-way meeting between the United States, the European Union, India and Brazil, the so-called G-4, collapsed in June 2007 in disagreements over

Food and Wine
There are a variety of food movements, including slow food and local food. Italian Carlo Petrini founded the slow food movement after organizing a

How we Eat: 2005
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistic's Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2005, there were 117 million "consumer units," each with an average

California: Water, Commodities
Water. On June 1, 2007, the delta pumps that send water south via the State Water Project were turned off because of too many smelt killed; the U.S.

US Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits and vegetables, planted on 13 million acres of land (three percent of US crop land), accounted for 29 percent of average crop cash receipts

US Farm & Food Policy, Food Safety
The US is rewriting the 2002 Farm Bill, which expires in September 2007. Initial votes in the House in June 2007 suggest that the new bill, which

Wine: Global, US, EU
Vinexpo (http://www.vinexpo.com) predicted in June 2007 that the US would be the world's largest wine market by 2010, consuming about 12 percent of the

California: E Coli, Crops
E Coli. Farmers in Spring 2007 continued to grapple with efforts to assure that lettuce and other leafy greens are safe to eat. The e coli scare

US Farm Bill, Ethanol
US farm policy is renewed every five years. The Bush administration released its plans for the 2007 Farm Bill in February 2007, proposing to spend

Doha, Ethical Trade, Climate
The Doha free-trade talks continued during spring 2007, with many predicting that failure to agree would slow economic growth and poverty reduction

Wine: 2006 Crush, France
California crushed about 3.1 million tons of wine grapes in 2006; they were worth an average $547 a ton. The 1.8 million tons of grapes were crushed

Many farm employers complain of labor shortages. There is no official government definition of labor shortage, nor is there an economic definition, as changing prices and wages are expected to bring supply and demand into balance.
One labor shortage definition offered to assess labor shortage claims in the high-tech sector is employment rising faster than average and hourly

California, E Coli, Water
California's farm sales in 2005 were $31.7 billion, up from $28.4 billion in 2004. The value of fruit and nut crops in 2005 was $10.5 billion;

US Farm Policy, Farm Shares
Policy. The Farm Bill of 2002 expires in 2007, and produce growers are asking for federal support for marketing the fruits and vegetables they

Floriculture, Nursery
USDA reported that floriculture and nursery crop sales were $5.4 billion in 2005 in the 36 major producing states; the two sectors are sometimes

Global Warming, Water, Trees
Human activities, largely burning fossil fuels, are increasing emissions of carbon dioxide, which could raise average temperatures by four to five

Wine, Food, Restaurants
California harvested a record 3.8 million tons of wine grapes in 2005, and growers received an average price of $482 a ton. The 2006 crush is

California: Commodities, Water
California had farm sales of $31.7 billion in 2005, unchanged from 2004 (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/farmincome/finfidmu.htm). The eight-county San

Trade: Doha, Fairtrade
Doha. The Doha round of trade talks apparently collapsed in July 2006 amid disputes over liberalizing trade in farm commodities. There was a

US: Farms and Subsidies, Obesity, Ethanol
Since the early 1950s, the farm share of retail food expenditures fell from 40 to 20 percent. In 2004, consumers spent $789 million on food,

Wine, Caviar
Old World. The EU produces too much wine, and in June 2006 announced plans to pay farmers to remove up to 400,000 hectares of vineyards or one

Global: Fish, Coffee, Land, Coca, Flu
Global grain production was almost 1.9 billion metric tons in 2004, about the same as previous years. About a third of global grain production is

California Agriculture
Fresno county had $4.6 billion in farm sales in 2005, led by sales of grapes, $555 million; almonds, $470 million; milk, $335 million; tomatoes, $330

FVH Mechanization
The May 2006 issue of Western Grower and Shipper reprinted a study on labor-saving mechanization (http://www.cis.org/articles/2000/back1200.html) that

US: Organics, Corn, Trade
The US is debating a new farm bill. About 90 percent of government farm payments go to five crops: corn, wheat, rice, cotton and soybeans. These

Obesity, Avian Flu, West Nile
The USDA's Food and Nutrition Service spends $48 billion a year on food assistance programs. The Food Stamp program is the largest US food aid

Wine, Coffee
In 2005, California wineries shipped an estimated 165 million 12-bottle cases of wine worth $7.6 billion, at $46 a case or $3.82 per 750 ml bottle.

Global Agriculture
The so-called BRIC countries-Brazil, Russia, India and China- include about 42 percent of the world's people and 30 percent of the world's GDP,

California: Commodities, Water
A third of California residents are Hispanic and Hispanics are over 95 percent of hired farm workers. However, over 90 percent of farmers, and an

US Ag, Food Aid, Obesity
The 2006 Economic Report of the President reviews agricultural policy, noting that farming households had 25 percent of US residents in 1930,

Wine, Caviar, Coffee
Americans bought a record 300 million cases of wine in 2005, spending $25 billion. About 187 million or 62 percent of these cases were produced in

Avian Flu
Avian or bird flu (H5N1 virus) spread from Asia in 2003 to Western Europe and Africa during the winter and spring of 2006. Birds in 40 countries and

Global: GMOs, FVH Trade, Ethanol
In 2005, some 8.5 million farmers planted a record 222 million acres of biotech crops in 21 countries. Over half of the GMO crops were planted in

Immigration and Agriculture Conference
We are pleased to announce a June 14-15, 2006 conference on Immigration Reform: Implications for Farmers, Farm Workers, and US Agriculture in Washington DC. The purpose of the conference is to assess the provisions of pending (or enacted) immigration reform proposals, the role of legal and unauthorized farm workers in US agriculture, the role of MSFW programs in integrating migrants and their children, and the longer term implications of immigration on agricultural competitiveness and rural communities. Participation is by invitation. If you would like to participate, please contact Philip Martin-- [email]plmartin@ucdavis.edu[/email] as soon as possible for an agenda and conference details.

How we Eat: 2004
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistic's Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2004, there were 116 million "consumer units," with an average of 2.5

Grapes, Strawberries, Land
California's farm sales were $32 billion in 2004, almost double the $17 billion of number two Texas. California produces over 350 crops, including

Trade: Doha Round
Trade negotiators from 149 countries met in Hong Kong in December 2005 to conclude the Doha round of trade negotiations, which began in the Qatari

FVH, Breakfast
The FAO estimates that there were 52 million hectares of fruit globally, and 51 million hectares of vegetables, and that production was 497 million

Wine, Olive Oil, Caviar
California produced 3.2 million tons of wine grapes in 2005, just shy of the record 3.3 million tons in 2000 and up from 8.8 million tons in 2004.

Global Agriculture
The US "Food for Peace" program, begun in 1954, distributed 3.4 million metric tons of commodities to use as food aid in about 80 countries at a cost

Pesticides, Obesity, Flu
The two most commonly used insecticides in US agriculture, malathion and chlorpyrifos, show up at detectable levels in elementary school-age children

California: Commodities, Air, Water
California's farm sales reached a record $31.8 billion in 2004, up almost $5 billion from 2003 due to higher prices for many commodities. Ventura

Wine: California, Global
California is expecting a three million ton wine grape harvest from 475,000 bearing acres in 2005. There are 40,000 acres that will soon be

Farm Trade, Food Aid
Global farm output was worth $1.2 trillion in 2000, global trade in farm goods was about $450 billion, and global farm subsidies were $200 billion.

International
Brazil is mechanizing its cane harvest, largely to avoid the environmental effects of burning cane fields for hand harvesters. Cane plants form

Changing Face seminars have explored the impacts of immigrants arriving in rural and agricultural areas on local economies and communities and the prospects for the upward mobility of migrants and their children since 1995 (http://migration.ucdavis.edu/cf
In Winter or Spring 2006 we plan a seminar at UC-Davis to assess pending or enacted immigration reforms and how they are likely to affect agriculture

California Commodities
Cherries are one of the earliest labor-intensive fruits to harvest in California. Workers pick about 100 pounds an hour from traditional trees and

Subsidies, Sugar, Obesity
US Subsidies. President Bush in February 2005 proposed cutting farm subsidies by $5.4 billion over the next five years, in part by limiting total

Wine, Olives, Water
California wineries sold 522 million gallons of wine in 2004 worth $7 billion, including 430 million gallons or 82 percent in the US (total US wine

International
Bird Flu. Bird flu (H5N1) persists in Asia, and health officials fear that it could undergo genetic changes and become the most deadly disease to

California and US: Farm Sales, Trade
California's crop sales were a record $18.1 billon in 2004, up from $16.9 billion in 2003. They included $9.1 billion of fruits and nuts, $5.9

Obesity, Bird Flu, Fish
Obesity. In an effort to head off "Mclawsuits," fast food chains such as IHOP have begun offering brochures that spell out the calorie and fat

Land Reform
Brazil. Brazil is one of the last countries with a frontier, the 4,000-mile wide and two-million-square-mile Amazon rainforest that boasts the

Water and Wine
Water. In February 2005, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in a case in which California farmers are demanding compensation from the government

Agriculture, Water, Ads
California's farm sales totaled $28 billion in 2003, including $7 billion from livestock, dairy and poultry products and $21 billion from the sale of

Wine, Olive Oil, Fois Gras
Wine. Most of the 2.7 million tons of grapes crushed for wine in 2003 were grown in the Central Valley of California; two million tons or 75 percent.

Obesity, Food Safety
Since 1960, Americans gained an average one inch in height, so that men averaged 69 inches and women 64 inches in 2002. They are also 25 pounds

Nafta, Cafta
A NAFTA-appointed panel in November 2004 concluded that the unintended spread of US genetically modified corn in Mexico -- where the species

China, Brazil, Shrimp
China. About 700 million people live in rural China, where the transition to a market economy began in 1979. However, incomes in urban China are

California, Raisins, Olives
Raisins. Harvesting the grapes from 125,000 to 150,000 acres in the Fresno area that are turned into raisins has traditionally been the most

Wine 2004
The 2004 California wine grape harvest is expected to total 2.9 million tons, and prices should be higher than they were in 2003, when the 1.6

Africa, China, Brazil
Africa. Land continues to be a point of conflict between whites and Blacks. In summer 2004, Masai tribesmen marched onto sprawling ranches held by

Global Trends: Water, Textiles
Water. More than 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water, and 2.3 billion -or one person in three - lack access to

We are pleased to announce two conferences at UC-Davis open to the public.
On Thursday, September 30, 2004, " Regulating Farm Labor Relations: The ALRA at 30," reviews changes in the farm labor market and changes in farm

California, US Agriculture
The Giannini Foundation sponsored a conference on May 28, 2004 to discuss a new 12-chapter book, California Agriculture: Dimensions and Issues

Water and Wine
California farmers, who use about 80 percent of the state's storable or developed water, have been getting more efficient in water use, which means

Subsidies, GMOs, Obesity
The OECD reported that farmers in rich countries received $257 billion in subsidies and payments in 2003, making subsidies equivalent to a third of

Fisheries
Every year, about $55 billion in fish products is traded internationally, including a third from developing countries. Fisheries employ 25 million

Coca, Sugar, Brazil
Coca. Colombia had a peak 400,000 acres of coca in 2001, but acreage has since plunged by 80,000 because of US-financed coca eradication efforts that

California Agriculture
Wine. The wine grape crush was 3.4 million tons in 2003, 11 percent below 2002's 3.8 million tons, but winegrape prices rose only slightly, from $462

Water: Drought, CVP
Most of the West is headed into six years of drought, with experts estimating that it would take perhaps 15 years to refill Lake Powell on the

Trade, GMOs
The proposed Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) may pit US sugar farmers against rice growers- sugar believes it would lose, while rice

Africa: Zimbabwe, Kenya
Over half of Zimbabwe's 12 million residents are short of food, and the UN asked the government to release some of the 236,000 tons of corn in its

Europe: Migrants, Enlargement
An organization of unions, the ICFTU, estimated that 500,000 of the 4.5 million seasonal workers employed in agriculture each year in the current

How We Eat: 2002, Obesity
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistic's Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2002, there were 112 million "consumer units," with an average of 2.5

Water, Fish, Cotton
San Diego will buy 200,000 acre-feet of water from the Imperial Irrigation District at $258 per acre-foot under a 75-year deal. This will provide

Russia: Migrants
Russian Migration Minister Vladimir Zorin said in December 2003 that "Labor migrants account for only 0.7 percent of the workforce and nationwide

California, Wine
California had farm sales of $27.6 billion in 2001. Almost a quarter of farm commodities by value were exported, with almonds, cotton, wine, table

US Farm Policies. GMOs
The New York Times wrote a series of editorials in Fall 2003 focusing on how farmers in developing countries are hurt by subsidies given to farmers

Mad Cows
In December 2003, the first US cow with BSE was discovered on Washington state dairy farm near Yakima with 4,000 cows. The "cow that stole

Africa: Land, Cotton
South Africa has about 40 million Blacks and four million whites; 90 percent of the commercial farm land is owned by 50,000 white farmers.

California: FVH Agriculture
The value of farm commodities was $31 billion in 2002, including $3.4 billion in Fresno county; $3.2 billion in Tulare county; and $2.8 billion in

Wine Woes
California has too many wine grapes, and many growers were scrambling to find buyers in September 2003. Mesa Vineyard Management, managing 6,000

California: Water Transfers
The Imperial Irrigation District agreed on a 3-2 vote in October 2003 to sell some of the Colorado river water to which it is entitled and

ILO: Global Farm Worker Issues
About 40 percent of the world's three-billion strong labor force, some 1.2 billion workers, are employed in agriculture as self-employed farmers,

Europe: Brazil, Aquaculture
The United States and the European Union agreed in August 2003, ahead of the next round of World Trade Organization negotiations, on ways to reduce

Shrimp, Fish, Coffee
The most important lesson of agricultural economics is that farmers respond quickly to rising prices- if the price is high, farmers are quick to

Global Trends
Globalization, the increased connectedness of people despite national borders, is reflected in increased trade and capital flows. The industrial

Europe: Trade & GMOs, CAP
President Bush asserted that Europe should stop obstructing the sale of genetically modified food, and for the first time linked Europe's 1998 ban

California: FVH Commodities
Fresno county in 2002 produced farm commodities worth $3.4 billion, returning to its spot as the number one US farm county. In 2001, neighboring

China, India, Vietnam
China has about a third of the world's 1.5 billion farmers, and many of them are migrating to cities.

Wine Woes
In 2001, California had 480,000 bearing acres of wine grapes, 50 percent in the San Joaquin Valley, and 90,000 non-bearing acres

Food, FVH Crops
US residents spent $440 billion for food at home and $298 for food consumed away from home in 2001

California: Water, Agribusiness
In 2002, the US Bureau of Reclamation agreed to pay owners of 33,000 acres on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley $107 million

US: Farmers, Food Spending
The US had 1.9 million farms in 1997, including 963,000 very small farms with sales of less than $10,000; 792,000 small farms, with sales of $10,000

California: FVH Commodities, Water
There are too many grapes, and especially too many raisins and wine grapes. Total grape production was estimated to be 6.7 million tons in 2002,

Brazil, India, Bananas, Ecotourism
AgBrazil, a US company that helps US farmers get started farming in Brazil, estimates that there are 200 US farmers in Brazil. Many of the

EU Agriculture
About half of the EU's budget is spent on agriculture, some E45 billion of the EU's E98 billion a year budget. The EU proposed that farmers, who are

New Zealand Agriculture
New Zealand has the highest percentage of workers employed in agriculture among rich nations, and labor-intensive agriculture is expanding. New

How We Eat; Food-Sector Jobs
About 2.5 million individuals do farm work for wages sometime during a typical year, so that farm workers represent less than two percent of the 140

California Ag: FVH, Water
California farm sales were $29.8 billion in 2001. A $32 million "California Grown" advertising campaign was launched in August 2002 to urge

OECD: Ag Subsidies
The OECD released its fifteenth annual report on farm subsidies in June 2002, and reported that farmers in the world's richest 30 countries received

Fishing, Grazing
The government largely regulates two types of agriculture, fishing and grazing on federally owned lands in the western states. In both cases, there

Europe: Food, Migrates
European food producers want to protect the names of their products, such as Parmesan cheese and Parma ham. Regional producers of specialty food

Global Communities: Bananas, Coffee
Almost half of the world's three billion workers are farmers or farm workers, and many are leaving agriculture for cities in the developing world.

California Farm Sales: Tulare/Fresno
Tulare county had the most farm sales in 2001, $3.5 billion, compared to $3.2 billion for Fresno county. Fresno county replaced Los Angeles County

California Commodities
In 1997, California's FVH sales-- fruits, nut and berries, vegetables and melons and horticultural specialties that range from nursery and greenhouse

Farm Subsidies: US, EU
The 421-page Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 was approved in May 2002. The new law, which governs federal agricultural policy for the

Russia: Land, Workers
Russia's lower house of Parliament, the Duma, approved legislation in June 2002 that would create a legal system to allow Russians, but not

California: $29 billion, 2000
California farm sales reached $29 billion in 2000, led by $3.4 billion in farm sales in Fresno County, $3.1 billion in Tulare, and $2.9 billion in

Subsidies, Trade
The US first made payments to farmers in 1933, in an effort to help struggling farmers deal with the Depression. In 2000, federal price supports

Brazil, UK, Israel
Brazil was the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1888, and forced labor for both blacks and whites continued throughout the 20th

Mechanization and Productivity
The story of US agriculture is a story of productivity growth; fewer workers producing more food and fiber from the same amount of land with more

FVH Commodities
California has nine million irrigated acres of farm land; most of the state's 35 million residents live on 5.5 million acres of urban land.

Policy, Trade and Water
Congress approved a new farm bill in Fall 2001 that continues the practice of paying farmers the difference between a target price set by the

Coffee in Crisis
The price of coffee dropped from $0.95 a pound in December 1999 to $0.45 a pound in November 2001. The reason for the price drop is oversupply: 60

Zimbabwe: Land Invasions
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, or ZANU-PF has been in power since independence in 1980.

Wine 2001
The "normal" California wine grape crush is about three million tons a year. The harvest was 3.3 million tons from 458,000 acres in 2000, and is

Trade, Tourism, Aquaculture
The US exported goods worth $712 billion in 2000, and imported goods worth $1.2 trillion, for a $493 billion trade deficit. Leading exports were

US Farm Policy, FVH
Congress approved a $5.5 billion supplementary farm aid bill for FY01, which ends September 30, 2001; in FY00, supplementary farm aid was $7.1

Agriculture: Mexico, China, EU
Humans may have begun farming in 11,000 BC, after a climate change that led to fat-grained cereals, such as rye, that could only have been selected

Yolo County Agriculture
Yolo county (http://www.yolocounty.org), California, with 160,000 residents, is located along the I-80 corridor connecting Sacramento and the Bay area.

How We Eat: 1999 Data
About 2.5 million individuals do farm work for wages sometime during a typical year, so that farm workers represent less than two percent of the 140

Subsidies, Land Values, Water
The Freedom to Farm Act of 1996 eliminated supply controls on farmers, leaving them free to produce as much wheat and corn as they wanted, and

FVH, Other Commodities
Low grape prices have encouraged some farmers to replace grapes with tree fruits such as peaches, plums and nectarines. Corrin Produce in Reedley

Agribusiness, Aquaculture
USDA's ERS has developed a classification of farms that groups them by their annual sales and major activity of the operator. The major distinction

Mad Cows, GMOs
In early May 2001, after destroying 2.5 million animals, the UK declared that hoof-and-mouth disease was "under control," setting the stage for

Global Agriculture
A global glut of bananas is encouraging Chiquita Brands International, Dole Food Co. and Del Monte to change the way they deal with Latin American

COA, NASS, OES/CES Data
The 1997 Census of Agriculture reported that the total hired labor expenditures of farmers were $14.8 billion in 1997, 10 percent of total farm

Farm Income, Commodities
US net farm income was about $45 billion in 2000, and is expected to drop to $40 billion in 2001; the federal government provided $22 billion in

Europe: Ag Guest Workers
European agriculture was rocked by two problems in 2000-01: livestock diseases and the genetically modified organisms in crops. If problems in

Mad Cows, GMO
European agriculture was rocked by two problems in 2000-01: livestock diseases and the genetically modified organisms in crops. If problems in

US Farm Policy
President-elect George W. Bush nominated Ann M. Veneman to be Agriculture Secretary, making her the first female USDA leader and marking a break from

California: $27 Billion Farm Sales
California's farm sales were $26.7 billion in 1999, up from $26.3 billion in 1998 but down from the record $27.2 billion in 1997. Farm sales in 1999

Agriculture, Land and Trade
Leather has become a mass commodity product, largely because there are so many pigs in China. As Chinese incomes rise, people eat more meat, and the

GMO's Mad Cows
Genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered crops are plants with genes added that confer resistance to insect, fungal and viral pests

Farm Policy, Developing Countries
The OECD reported that government support for agriculture cost consumers and taxpayers $361 billion in 1999, equivalent to 40 percent of total farm

Latin America
Oranges. Southeastern Brazil is the source of most of the oranges used to make orange juice; Brazil employs 400,000 workers to produce more oranges

Zimbabwe: Land
Zimbabwe voters went to the polls on June 25, 2000 to elect a new 150-seat parliament, the fifth election since the country became independent in

Farmers, Land, Commodities
The average age of US farmers was 54 in 1997, and 61 percent of farmers were 55 or older; only five percent of US farmers were under 35. These data

Food Spending
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were about 106 million "consumer units" in the US in 1997-98, with an average of 2.5 persons

GMOs
Genetically modified organisms or genetically engineered crops are plants with genes added that confer resistance to insect, fungal and viral pests

Farm Production
Producing food and fiber on farms is often compared to producing cars or appliances in factories: the nonfarm factory brings together people and

California Fruits and Vegatables
California's farm sales in 1998 were $26.6 billion, up slightly from $26.3 billion in 1997. Fresno county had $3.2 billion in farm sales; followed

Commodities: Fruits and Nuts
US fruit production fell four percent in 1998 to 34 million short tons from 3.2 million bearing acres, including 16 million tons of noncitrus fruit

Commodities: Horticulture Specialties
About 40 percent of the roses produced in California by 475 growers are grown with hydroponics, in plastic tubs about one foot square. The bottom

Farm Sales, Farmers
US farm sales were $190 billion in 1999, including $96 billion from the sale of crops ($102 billion in 1998) and $95 billion from the sale of

Latin America
World banana prices are depressed, primarily because of increased production in Ecuador, the world's largest banana exporter. For this reason,

South Africa: Farm Workers
An estimated 72 percent of South Africa's farm workers earn less than the poverty-line wage of R650 a month, according to testimony by the South

Australia/New Zealand
Australia, a country of 19 million, had seven million residents in 1946—immigration of up to 150,000 a year is largely responsible for

Canada: Guest Workers
There are about 11,000 foreign farm workers in Ontario Canada in 1999—most are from Mexico and the Caribbean, and they are admitted for up to

Census of Agriculture
The 1997 Census of Agriculture ( [url=http://www.usda.gov]http://www.usda.gov[/url] ) reported that there were 1.9 million farms in 1997, the same number as in 1992—a farm

US Food System
Farming the smallest part of the three-part food and fiber system, which consists of: 1.) input industries such as banks, chemical

Changing Face: Yuba-Sutter
The Changing Face project explores the impacts of immigration and integration in the agricultural areas of California. In many of the

Commodities
California farm revenue dropped six percent to an estimated $25.3 billion in 1998, from $26.8 billion in 1997, ending a six-year trend of rising

Labor Ready
Labor Ready, is a national chain of storefront offices that provides blue-collar workers to employers for one or more days. Labor Ready recruits

With These Hands
Rothenberg, Daniel. 1998. With These Hands. The Hidden World of Migrant Farmworkers Today. New York. Harcourt Brace Company. 334pp. $28.

How We Eat II
About 2.5 million individuals do farm work for wages sometime during a typical year, so that farm workers represent less than two percent of

Commodity Updates
California's 1998 wine grape crush totaled 3.2 million tons, down 19 percent from the 1997; the leading grapes crushed were Thompson seedless,

Australia: Migrant
Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock announced in March that Australia would not make it easier for nonimmigrant tourists to obtain temporary work

UK Migrants
The UK admits up to 10,000 students from Central and Eastern Europe each summer to fill temporary jobs, often in agriculture. Some do not return,

EU-US Banana War
The US and the European Union skirted on the edge of a trade war in March 1999 because of bananas. The EU has a quota system that favors banana

Brazil: Slavery
The Employment Ministry has set up an armed team to rescue enslaved men, women and children who are attracted to farm worker jobs in the poor

Migrants and Pork
The $28 billion US pork processing industry is in transition, moving from the beef model of independent farmers, feedlot operators, and processors

Mexico: Economic Changes
Mexico has had to reduce government spending several times as the price of oil fell--one-third of government revenue comes from oil sales. The PRI

NAFTA at Five
NAFTA had its fifth anniversary on January 1, 1999. There were numerous report cards, and their major conclusion was that neither the benefits nor

Big Six Produce Companies
The Big Six US Produce Companies with annual sales of $13 billion include Dole Food Company, $4.3 billion sales in 1997; Chiquita Brands

Mechanization: Grapes
Farmers have been able to increase farm output by raising productivity--making two blades of grass grow where one grew before. California and 14

FVH Commodities and Trade
US farmers harvested an average 200,000 acres of head lettuce between 1995 and 1997, and produced about 68 million hundredweight in 1997--a head of

Gardening, Landscape
The "green" industry (nursery and greenhouse sector) has two major subsectors: floriculture (cut flowers, cut cultivated greens, and

Africa
Most of South Africa's 50,000 commercial farmers are Afrikaners, the descendants of Dutch, German and French settlers who ruled the country for

California: $27 Billion Sales
California had record farm sales of $26.8 billion in 1997, up from $25.3 billion in 1996; Texas had farm sales of $15.9 billion. About $6.7

Agribusiness: Grapes, Apples, Olives
Tri-Valley Growers, the largest multi-commodity cooperative in California, lost $53 million in 1997-98, compared to a profit of $19 million in

Mexico, NAFTA
The purpose of NAFTA is to reduce trade barriers between Canada, Mexico and the US. The resulting economies of scale and the efficiencies

Dutch Flowers, Asparagus
In 1996, the Netherlands had about two million hectares of farm land, including 109,000 hectares devoted to horticulture and 12,200 hectares

Canadian Guest Workers
Canada launched a program to admit temporary farm workers from the Caribbean on the basis of a government-to-government memo of understanding

Russia, EU
Russia is less self sufficient in food production in 1998 than it was during Soviet times reflecting, according to some experts, continued control

Strawberries
Strawberries are an unusual crop. Production usually occurs on a small scale, and is very labor intensive, so that ex-farm workers with access to

Southeast Asia: Structural Demand?
As southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Korea and Malaysia continue to expel migrant workers, their employers are requesting new migrants to

US Farms and Farm Land
The number of US farms fell from 6,454,000 in 1920 to 1,925,300 in 1992, a decline of 70 percent. The number of farms operated by non-whites fell

US and California FVH Production
Fresh fruit consumption fell three pounds a person in 1995 to 98 pounds, including a drop of one pound of apples to 19 pounds a person.

Chiquita, Dole
On May 3, 1998, the Cincinnati Enquirer ran a series of stories on Chiquita Brands International, the banana grower and marketer headquartered

UK, France
Media reports and raids are finding that many seasonal workers in the UK are on the welfare or unemployment insurance rolls, or are

Shrimp Farming
In the mid-1990s, the one million tons of shrimp grown on farms accounted for 25 percent of the $6 billion (farm or fisher) value of shrimp. The

Suro, Roberto. Strangers Among Us: How Latino Immigration is transforming America
Suro's four-part, 18-chapter book explores the origins, status and trajectory of the fastest growing race/ethnic group in the US--the 30

Mexican Migrants
The Valley of San Quintin in Mexico produces $65 million worth of tomatoes, green onions, strawberries, cucumbers and celery annually from 19,000

California Agriculture
For the past 50 years, California farm sales have topped those of every other state, and in 1996, they were a record $24.5 billion, up from $23

Food Expenditures
American consumers spent $547 billion for US-produced food in 1996; food expenditures were about 11 percent of disposable income. Farmers

US Agriculture
US farmers sold crops and livestock worth $217 billion in 1996, and receipts are expected to decline to $215 billion in 1997; California farm

South American Agriculture
Colombian coffee farmers are complaining that the water they need to grow coffee is being diverted to grow opium poppy and causing environmental

EDD Report 96A
EDD. Report 96A. 1998. Unemployment Insurance Weeks Compensated by Industry. 1997. March 10. In 1997, California paid $2.4 billion for

Canada: Guest Workers
Many Mexicans urge the US to develop a seasonal worker program like that in place with Canada. The Canadian program is based on a

Philippines: Dole, Plantation
Dole, the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruits, won permission in 1994 to continue to grow bananas on a 1,004-hectare

Southern Africa
An April 21-15, 1997 conference on farm workers in southern Africa lamented the absence of labor standard protections such as minimum wage and the

Grape Mechanization
Much of American history is the story of producing more food and fiber with fewer people. As more farm workers appear to be unauthorized workers

Canada: Unions, Guest Workers
Farm workers were granted organizing and bargaining rights under Ontario's Agricultural Labour Relations Act (Bill 91) for about one year. Under

Child Labor
Despite laws in virtually all countries against the use of child labor, "more children work in agriculture than in any other sector," in part

Food Safety, Processing
President Clinton in September announced plans for a four-part program aimed at improving the safety of both foreign and domestic produce. Under

FVH Trade
Beginning in November 1997, Mexican avocados will be allowed to be sold in 19 northeastern states for four months--November through February.

Marketing Orders
The US Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote on June 25, 1997, decided that farmers could be compelled to contribute to marketing orders that support generic

Farm Workers Elsewhere
On January 1, 1994, the International Federation of Plantation, Agriculture and Allied Workers (IFPAAW) merged with the International Union of Food,

Cloning
On February 22, 1997, scientists in Scotland announced they had created a healthy lamb from a normal adult DNA cell taken from the udder of an adult

World Food Summit
A five-day World Food Summit was held in Rome under the auspices of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in mid-November, 1996, and one of

ILO: Improve Farm Worker Conditions
The International Labor Organization released a report on September 23, 1996 that calls for better working conditions, safer transport systems and

Mexican Inwquality, Tomatoes
On March 28, 1996, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo said that Mexico needed to distribute income more equally to address the growing gap between

Migrants in Argentina/Chile
The governor of Argentina's Tucuman province flew 500 unemployed sugar mill workers south to Rio Negro to find seasonal fruit picking jobs, prompting

Marketing Orders Ending?
The US Supreme Court on December 2, 1996 heard arguments on whether growers must contribute to generic advertising campaigns, such as "Got milk?" if

Mad Cow and EU Agriculture
Britain's $6.5 billion beef industry was rocked in 1996 by "mad cow" disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, which led to an ban on exporting

California Food Production, Consumption and Expenditures
The summer of 1996 was one of the hottest summers on record in California. The heat caused crops to ripen faster and made it more difficult for

How We Eat
There were about 100 million "consumer units" in the US, and they spent an average $30,700 in 1993, up from $29,800 in 1992. The five largest

Mexican Tomatoes and Avocados
The US farm value of fresh vegetables and melons was $7.4 billion in 1995, and Florida's production of six winter fresh vegetables--tomatoes, bell

FVH Agriculture
The farm value of fruits and nuts, vegetables and melons and horticultural specialties such as mushrooms and greenhouse/nursery crops totaled a

Mexican Agriculture and Trade Issues
Mexico may have to import a record 11 to 12 million tons of basic grains in 1996 because of a drought and low yields due to fertilizer shortages.

Caribbean/Central American Migration and Agriculture
There are an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 Haitians in the Dominican Republic at any one time, working mainly on sugar and rice plantations. On

Marketing Orders and Subsidies
On June 4, 1996, the US Supreme Court agreed to decide whether marketing orders that require growers of peaches, plums, and other fruits and

NAFTA and US Agriculture
In 1994, the US exported farm commodities worth $5.5 billion to Canada and $4.5 billion to Mexico-- agricultural exports to Mexico fell to $3.3

India Steps Up Produce Exports
India is the world's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables--after the US. India's exports of FVH commodities more than doubled to $137

Japanese Agribusiness
Japan is the largest food importer in the world--Japan imported over $10 billion in farm commodities from the US in 1995, and is expected to import

Russia Privatizes Farm Land
Farm workers in November, 1995 were declared Russia's worst-paid employees, averaging just R294,000 (about $60 per month), while the average wage

Isreal Replaces Palestines
After a three-week ban on Palestinians entering Israel due to a series of suicide bombings, the government announced on March 24, 1996 that it was

Mexico: Farm Policy Changes
Procampo, the Rural Direct Support Program begun by the Mexican government in 1994, offers subsidies to some of the 60 percent of Mexican farms

Starbucks Sets Farm Worker Standards
Starbucks Coffee in October 1995 became the first-ever US company to announce minimum standards for foreign farm workers who produce its coffee.

Farm Workers on Plantations
Phillippe Egger of the ILO reports that there are one billion farm workers employed on plantations in developing countries, and that about 20

Brazilian Farm Workers
In June 1995, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso ordered his ordered his cabinet to make land reform a priority in order to end rural

NAFTA and Mexico
On October 10, Mexican President Zedillo came to Washington, and repaid ahead of schedule $700 million of the $12.5 billion Mexico borrowed from

Americanization and English
The Commission on Immigration Reform on September 12 issued its recommendations on reforming the legal immigration reform system. The Commission

West Texas Latinos
West Texas is experiencing a dramatic demographic shift. In 1960 only 11 counties had an Hispanic population of at least 15 percent. In 1990, 49 of

Hearing on Prop. 87
One year after its approval by a vote of 59 to 41 percent, California's Prop. 187 remains tied up in court. There are two distinct cases

Editor's Note
This is the fourth issue of Rural Migration News, but the first to be distributed throughout the US. We are sending you this issue of Rural

LA Business Opportunities
A recent survey by Hispanic Business Magazine of the top 50 cities for Latino businesses ranked Los Angeles No. 10 because of the high cost of

US and California Population Growth
The US population was estimated to be 260 million on July 1, 1994, up from 249 million in 1990. There are about four million births annually, and

Naturalization
The number of immigrants electing to become naturalized US citizens jumped 75 percent in the first four months of 1995. In FY94, some 558,139

State Activities to Deter Illegal Immigration
Prop. 187 in California may have marked a new era in state and local government activism to reduce illegal immigration. Virginia is estimating the

Population Shares vs Political Power
Latinos in 1994 were 28 percent of California's residents, up from 11 percent in 1970. According to the 1990 COP, 67 of California's 456 cities had

At-Large vs District Elections
California has 456 cities, and more than 400 use the at-large system of voting in which all candidates for city council and school board are

Latinos in School
In Santa Ana, Santa Ana Unified's student body is 87 percent Latino, and nearly three-quarters of its 48,286 students are learning English as their

Latinos Lack Health Insurance
Latinos are almost twice as likely as other Californians to be without health insurance, even though 87 percent of uninsured Latinos are from

California Ag Employment
EDD reported on the characteristics of workers employed on agriculture based on Current Population Survey data for 2008, which found 372,600 farm

Farm Workers: USDA, Indigenous
USDA Profile. USDA released a report, "Profile of Hired Farmworkers, 2008," that estimated there were an average of 752,000 hired farm workers in

Dust Bowl Migration
In 1930, California had 5.7 million residents, and the population shrank as 120,000 Mexicans were repatriated. In the 1930s, farmers from the

Agriculture for Development
The World Bank's World Development Report 2008 concluded that migration out of rural areas "is not a guaranteed pathway out of poverty." About 75

OFLC: Labor Certification
The US Office of Foreign Labor Certification released a report on its activities in August 2007, emphasizing that it is helping to "meet American

Washington State Farm Workers
This five-chapter report is a model of what states could do to review trends in their farm labor markets and shed light on often controversial issues

Napa Worker Housing
A CIRS study of Napa farm workers estimated that 6,790 workers were employed in Napa county in 2005, including 55 percent who were employed at least

Jensen: Immigrants in Rural America
Historically, immigrants moved from rural areas abroad to US cities, as epitomized by southern and eastern Europeans arriving at Ellis Island in New

Ethical Trade and Labor
Some European and especially British consumers appear willing to hold retailers responsible for the welfare of workers who produce the goods they

Vital Signs 2006-07
The Worldwatch Institute's Vital Signs 2006-07 reported that 15 of the 24 major ecosystems supporting human life are threatened, with world fisheries

US Employment Shifts
In 1810, 84 percent of US workers, about two million, were engaged in agriculture and three percent in manufacturing. In 1960, these percentages

Text for figure-EDD
California employment and earnings data suggest that farm employment in 2005 was about the same as the average for 2002-04, when employment of

Text for figure-July 2006
The average hourly earnings of all hired farm workers as reported in the USDA Farm Labor Survey have been between 50 and 60 percent of the average

Text for figure-Passel Illegals
The Pew Hispanic Center estimated there were 7.2 million unauthorized foreign workers in the US in March 2005, making them almost five percent of US

The New Rural Poverty
This three-part eight-chapter book deals with rural poverty associated with immigration in rural and agricultural areas. Part 1 has three chapters

ILO-FAO: 450 Million Farm Workers
The ILO-FAO issued a 91-page report in October 2005 that estimated 450 million or 41 percent of the total 1.1 million strong global farm work force

Multinational Codes of Conduct
Many NGOs have negotiated international framework agreements with multinationals to achieve goals ranging from protecting the environment to avoiding

PPIC on San Joaquin Valley
California's Central Valley, which stretches 450 miles from Bakersfield in the south to Redding in the North, is one of the fastest-growing areas of

Worker Data
NAWS. The NAWS interviews farm workers three times a year around the US. About 36 percent of all US crop workers are interviewed, and 44 percent of

DOL Releases 2001-02 NAWS
The ninth NAWS report on the characteristics and earnings of hired workers on US crop farms (seasonal agricultural services) was released in April

California Farm Labor Costs
A study from the California Institute for the Study of Specialty Crops reported that, in 2002 when farm sales were $26 billion, the Census of

California Ag History
Modern California agriculture began in 1769 when Spanish missionaries began to produce food around the missions they established, and expanded

ALRA at 30
On September 30, 2004, a University of California-Davis conference attracted 60 participants to discuss the impacts of California's Agricultural

COA 2002: California and US
The US conducts a Census of Agriculture in years ending in 2 and 7, and the 2002 COA reported that there were 2.1 million farms averaging 441 acres,

QCEW: Farm Worker Jobs and Wages
The BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages Program (http://stats.bls.gov/cew/home.htm) provides a monthly count of jobs and a quarterly

Steven Street: Beasts of the Fields
Richard Steven Street has produced the definitive history of California farm workers, accompanied by 270 photos of farm workers. Street is an

Changing Face 2004
The 10th Changing Face seminar was held September 9-10, 2004 in Parlier, California, and focused on the challenges and opportunities posed by

Schlosser and Crister
Writer Eric Schlosser, author of a 1995 Atlantic article on strawberry pickers and Fast Food Nation, is back with a book that includes essays on

Dynamics of Hired Farm Labor
This four-part, 18-chapter book includes papers presented at a conference in October 1999. The papers, written by economists, sociologists and

Immigration and US Workers
The House Judiciary Committee on October 30, 2003 held a hearing on "The Prospects for American Workers: Immigration's Impact."

Nafta at 10
The North American Free Trade Agreement was 10 years old on January 1, 2004. In the early 1990s, Nafta was controversial in the US, with presidential candidate Ross Perot asserting there would be a "giant sucking sound" of jobs leaving the US for Mexico.

Promise Unfulfilled
Jerry Brown, who was California's governor between 1975 and 1983, said "The greatest accomplishment of my administration was the enactment of a

Farm Labor in the 1930s
During the 1930s, some 1.3 million Americans from the Midwest and southwest migrated to California, which had a population of 5.7 million in 1930s.

Organizing Immigrants
Milkman, Ruth. Ed. 2000. Organizing Immigrants: The Challenge for Unions in Contemporary California. Cornell University Press.

US Unions
In 2001, there were 16.3 million union members among 121 million employed workers, 13.5 percent, and 18 million workers represented by unions, 15

Napa: Agricultural Eden?
Napa is one of California's smallest but best-known counties, largely because of its 40,000 acres of vineyards and 280 wineries. Journalist James

California Agriculture: Data
>California has 100 million acres of land, and 28 percent are used for agriculture, but only 10 million acres are used to grow crops- the rest is

Organizing Immigrants
Milkman, Ruth. Ed. 2000. Organizing Immigrants: The Challenge for Unions in Contemporary California. Cornell University Press. This nine-chapter

Schlosser: Fast Food Nation
Eric Schlosser does not like the way Americans eat. His book, "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal," is an effort "to connect

Washington's Agricultuaral Workforce
Washington's Employment Security Department released a report in August 2001 that there were 172,000 acres of apples, 18,000 acres of cherries, and

Welfare Reform, Inequality
Between 1994 and 2001, over one million people, mostly women, have made the transition from welfare to employment. The number of US welfare

DOL Report on Farm Labor
The U.S. Department of Labor issued a 22-page Report to Congress in December 2000 that reviewed conditions in the farm labor market and recommended

Farm Worker Health
A study of farmworker health, "Suffering in Silence: A Report on the Health of California's Agricultural Workers," was released on February 8, 2001

MSFW Profiles
The Migrant Health Program (MHP), through the National Center for Farmworker Health, commissioned estimates of the number of migrant, seasonal and

Basques and Sheep
Bieter, John and Mark Bieter. 2000. An Enduring Legacy : The Story of Basques in Idaho. Reno. University of Nevada Press.

NAWS: 1997-98
US Department of Labor released the its eighth report based on the National Agricultural Workers' Survey (NAWS); 4,199 workers, with the permission

NAFTA and Migrants
A Conference on Agricultural Migrant Labor in North America was held February 8-9, 2000 in Los Angeles. NAFTA included a labor side agreement that

Dynamics of Hired Farm Labor
The USDA and Penn State University held a multidisciplinary conference October 25-26, 1999 to examine: (1) the dynamics of U.S. hired farm labor

INS Statistical Yearbook: 1997
The INS released the statistical yearbook covering FY97 in December 1999; the yearbook covering FY96 was released in October

ABA Looks at Farm Workers
On Friday, August 6, 1999 the American Bar Association, meeting in Atlanta's World Congress Center, presented a Presidential Showcase entitled:

State of the Great Central Valley
In July 1999, the Great Valley Center released a report, The State of the Great Central Valley of California, that recommends that the 19-county,

Conference Announcement
The 1999 Changing Face conference will be held on the September 2-4, 1999, with an all-day field trip to the Yuba City area on September 3. The

Immigration, Integration, and Agriculture
Mines, Richard, Susan Gabbard, and Anne Steirman. March, 1997. A Profile of US Farmworkers. Washington: US Department of Labor. Wells,

Books and Reports
Bugarin, Alicia and Elias Lopez. 1998. Farmworkers in California. California Research Bureau. CRB 98-007.

Peter Duignan and Lewis Gann. The debate in the United States over Immigration
This three-part ten-chapter book includes the papers presented at a Hoover Institution conference in October 1996. The contributors include

Ugalde, Antonio and Gilberto Cardenas. Health and Social Services among International Labor Migrants
This 11-chapter book includes selected papers presented at a conference in May 1995. There are four papers that deal with immigrant health issues

1998 Changing Face Conference of Rural California
The purpose of this Changing Face conference is to assess the prospects for integrating the immigrants who have arrived in the San Joaquin Valley

Binational Study
US Commission on Immigration Reform. 1997. Binational Study on Migration: Executive Summary. Washington: US Commission on Immigration Reform.

Books and Reports
This guide lists 100 researchers and several organizations working on rural Latinos. The 1990 Census found 48 million residents in nonmetro areas,

The Changing Face of Delmarva
The fourth Changing Face of Rural America conference will be held September 11-13, 1997 at the University of Delaware campus in Newark, Delaware.

Books and Reports
Mines, Richard, Susan Gabbard, and Anne Steirman. March, 1997. A Profile of US Farmworkers. Washington: US Department of Labor Stull,

Changing Face Conferences; Sept 11-13, 1997 October 10-11, 1997
More information is available at: [url=http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/changingface.html]http://migration.ucdavis.edu/rmn/changingface.html[/url] September 11-13, 1997. The fourth Changing Face of

Two Views of Farm Workers
Both the USDA and the US Department of Labor produce data on the characteristics and earnings of farm workers. USDA. Until 1990, most

Resources
EDD Report 352. 1996. Wages, Benefits, Contributions, and Employment by Industry. August 23. This annual report presents administrative

US/California FVH Production
The 39 billion pounds of fresh vegetables produced in the US in 1995 were worth about $7.4 billion, up almost $1 billion from 1994, and the 55

American Farmland Trust
American Farmland Trust. 1995. Future Urban Growth in California's Central Valley. Davis. This report notes that California, which had about

DOL Releases Immigrant Date
DOL's ILAB has released a report that tabulates employment data on foreign-and native-born adults in the US in March 1994. There were 22

Parlier
Parlier has been described as a Latino community of 10,000 people created by migrant farm workers--99.5 percent of the 2,400 students are Latino.

Dinuba and Orange Cove
In rural California, "the political, economic and social exclusion of Latinos is far greater in that area than in San Francisco or Los Angeles,"

Guadalupe and Santa Maria
Guadalupe, a city of 5,000 in the northwest corner of Santa Barbara county that is 80 percent Hispanic, may be a harbinger of the socio-economic