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

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

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

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,

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