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: 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

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

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

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