The recruitment of labor for planting, tending and harvesting crops is crucial. In cases where sufficient good labor is not obtained or where it is lost during the season, shortages can be truly damaging to your financial success. Whether it’s vegetables being disked in the field, fruit rotting on the tree or unmilked dairy herds, a lack of labor can ruin a potentially good year. So how do you find the labor you need? Here are some things to consider when you attempt your positive recruitment.
Wages & Work Conditions
One thing remains true for both employers and Hispanic workers —whether in dairy, agricultural, horticultural, nursery or landscaping operations — production and profits are the bottom line. Decent wages and work conditions increase the chances for positive recruitment results. “Decent” being subjective, the ODJFS Farm Program encourages employers and workers to utilize Interstate Clearance Orders to clarify and set the terms & conditions of the work being offered, before labor is contracted. The middle of the season is no time for bargaining. Try to maintain worker contact in the off-season, too.
Crop Calendar/Season
If you are recruiting for dairy, nursery or landscaping, you can offer labor an extended work year. If you are in field crops, berries or tree fruit, you should know that employees will be concerned about your crop calendar…the length of season and work available. To help recruit your labor, you should offer several harvests, either by yourself or by letting workers go to other producers in your operation’s off-times. This type of coordination can help keep labor within Ohio by offering these various employment opportunities.
Economic Downturn
A peculiar recruitment factor has arisen amidst the recent troubles with our national economy, increasing our unemployment rolls and leaving folks financially adrift. In some cases, this local labor has looked to agriculture for employment. Despite the fear (and reality) of losing labor under the unsettled immigration situation, some employers have seen unemployed newcomers trying ag work and some former farmworkers returning to a familiar place. Recruiting this new, legal labor force may prove both beneficial and a management challenge. (An aside: The economic downturn in housing and construction has also released a lot of Hispanic labor into the unemployment count.)
Raids and Fear
The negative influence of enforcement-first immigration policy is definitely a factor in your labor recruitment. And the high numbers of undocumented workers in agriculture is no secret either. The combination of labor too fearful to move and their ever-increasing deportations deplete the labor pool available for recruitment. And politicians have not yet devised a way to truly and effectively document & verify. Nor does a positive and workable immigration solution appear on the horizon.
Other Factors
Gas/Travel Especially under today’s economy and high fuel prices, money for travel to Ohio from Florida , Texas and other states along the migrant stream can become a factor for recruitment of labor. Workers may consider adjusting their travels to work in states closer to home. To counter this, employers may consider offering cash grants or temporary loans.
Programs & Services
Farmworkers factor a state’s help with their non-job-related needs in their decision of where to travel. This recruitment consideration was addressed in the June 2008 Ag Manager article, Migrant Labor Resources. Your knowledge in this area can factor into your positive contact with potential labor.
Labor’s Reasons for Picking A Particular State
Some factors and influences cited by farmworker comments and observations:
1. Historical contact with particular employer, region or state
2. Positive relations with employer and/or farm labor contractor
3. Positive work environment and conditions
4. The state provides familiar crops/work
5. Length of season…amount of work available/potential for profits
6. Good housing and supportive services
7. Economic necessity…wherever work can be found