April 2012, Volume 18, Number 2

California: Parlier, Calexico, Budget
The San Joaquin Valley is the agricultural powerhouse of the US and California. California accounts for an eighth of US farm sales, largely because

EEOC Data: Hispanics in Food Industries
EEOC. EEOC data report the sex, race and ethnicity of employees (www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/employment/jobpat-eeo1/index.cfm) employed in most US

Poverty, Welfare
The rural population increased between 2000 and 2010, but at a slower rate than the metro population, so that rural areas included only 16 percent of

California: Heat, FLCs, Overtime
Heat. The UFW is urging enactment of AB 2346, a bill that would allow farm workers to sue employers to enforce heat-safety regulations. Supporters

Florida, Southeast
Florida. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), which persuaded fast-food chains to require their tomato suppliers to pay up to 3,000 workers an

Midwest, Northeast, Northwest
Arizona. Arizona in 2007 required employers to use E-Verify to check the status of new hires beginning in 2008. The Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA)

UFW, ALRB, Unions
The birthday of Cesar Estrada Chavez was celebrated with marches around the US on March 31, 2012. President Obama issued a proclamation declaring

DOL: Child Labor
The US Department of Labor on September 2, 2011 proposed to tighten farm safety standards, barring children under 16 from operating tractors or

Unemployment, Projections
The US unemployment rate roughly doubled between 2006-07 and 2009-10. Analysts say that the 2008-09 recession accelerated the shift toward employers

State Laws, Ag, House
Mississippi is expected to enact an Alabama-style attrition-through-enforcement law in 2012 requiring employers to use E-Verify to check new hires

H-2A; H-2B
DHS issued 60,100 H-2A visas in FY09, over 90 percent to Mexicans; the number of H-2A visas dropped to 55,900 in FY10, when some 8,200 applicants for

DHS: Border, Interior, USCIS
President Obama requested $59 billion for DHS in FY13, including $39 billion in federal funds; the balance of the DHS budget comes from fees paid by

Canada, ANZ, UK Migrants
SAWP. Ten guest workers, including nine from Peru, were killed in southwestern Ontario in February 2012 when their van collided with a truck. The

California: $37 Billion Sales
California farm sales were $37 billion in 2010, up from $34 billion in 2009, led by a sharp jump in dairy sales to almost $6 billion. Grapes worth

US: Farm Income, Employment, Ag-Gag
US farmers had a record year in 2011, producing crops and livestock worth over $400 billion, with about half from crops and half from livestock. Net

Wine, Food
California crushed 3.3 million tons of wine grapes in 2011 for wine, down almost 10 percent from 2010 (another 600,000 tons of wine grapes were used

Sustainability, Climate, Agriculture
Agriculture is a unique industry that produces food and fiber in a biological production process. Policies are riddled with contradictions,