The H-2A program expanded in 2020 despite high US unemployment. The US Department of Labor (DOL) reduced the wages that must be paid to H-2A workers in 2021 and 2022, which should encourage faster H-2A expansion.
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An MIT Task Force in November 2020 released a report, The Work of the Future, that emphasized the divergence between rapidly rising US productivity growth and slower US wage growth since 1980. Why did wage growth slow while productivity rose? The report points to weaker unions, a stagnant federal minimum wage, and more free trade agreements, especially with China and Mexico, that put US workers in more direct competition with workers in other countries.
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The Romans thought that wild strawberries had medicinal properties, and the French developed modern hybrids in the 1750s from wild varieties found in the Americas. China produced 2.7 million tons of strawberries in 2018, followed by the US with 1.2 million tons, Mexico with 590,000 tons, Spain with 344,000 tons, and Poland with 195,000 tons. The leading exporters of fresh strawberries in 2019 were Spain, which exported $678 million worth of fresh strawberries or a quarter of global exports, Mexico, $580 million, the US, $451 million, the Netherlands, $271 million, and Belgium, $186 million.
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Watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydews are cucurbits, a plant family that includes cucumbers and pumpkins, squash, and zucchini. Most melons are consumed fresh in summer. Melons are over 90 percent water, and the cost of transporting them long distances can equal production costs, especially in summer when there are many fruits and vegetables to transport.
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The purpose of labor law enforcement is to ensure that the rights of workers are protected and to level the playing field for employers, so that those who underpay workers or engage in other cost-reducing behavior in violation of labor laws do not gain a competitive advantage over law-abiding employers. The US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is the major federal agency that protects the rights of US farm workers and H-2A guest workers.
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What were the impacts of covid in 2020 on agriculture and farm labor? Three effects stand out: no widespread reports of labor shortages, more H-2A jobs certified, and more interest in labor-saving mechanization.
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The OECD’s annual migration report emphasized that immigration and temporary migration fell sharply in 2020. Both immigration and temporary labor flows are expected to fall by half in 2020 for two reasons. First, the economic recession means that employers are sponsoring fewer foreign workers for immigrant and temporary work visas. Second, governments closed visa-processing facilities and borders to prevent the spread of covid, making it hard to complete the paperwork required for immigration and temporary work abroad.
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The H-2 (A) program has since 1952 allowed US farmers who anticipate too few US workers to fill seasonal farm jobs to be certified to recruit and employ guest workers. During the 1950s, the then H-2 program certified fewer than 10,000 US farm jobs a year to be filled with foreign farm workers, while over 450,000 Mexican Braceros a year were admitted.
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Tomatoes are a nightshade flowering plant like potatoes and bell peppers. Tomatoes originated in South America and today are one of the world’s most widely consumed vegetables. Tomatoes are technically fruits, classified botanically as berries, but commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish and included with vegetables in most statistical data. China produced a third of the world’s 182 million tons of fresh and processing tomatoes in 2018, followed by India, 19 million tons, the US, 13 million tons, and Turkey, 12 million tons.
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US households, what the government calls consumer units, spent an average $615 a year or $12 a week on fresh fruits and vegetables in 2019. Fresh fruits and vegetables are considered labor intensive because the wages and benefits of the hired farm workers who plant, tend, and harvest them average a third of the farm price.
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