By John Hart
Talk to farmers today, and they will tell you finding workers is often the greatest challenge they face.
Sure, pests and weather present never-ending headaches, and high production costs coupled with low commodity prices bring ongoing worries. But if farmers don’t have labor to help them produce their crops, they can’t stay afloat. For many, that means not only losing their major income source, but an asset that has been in the family for multiple generations and represents more than a business.
Labor is a top issue for farmers, large and small, says agricultural labor economist Alejandro Gutierrez-Li of NC State University. Gutierrez-Li believes that given the rising costs and political bottlenecks surrounding immigration and guest workers, further automation of routine, physically demanding tasks could be the answer for American farmers.
The challenges facing farmers in North Carolina and across the Southeast are unique due to the large number of fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops produced in this part of the country compared to the Midwest, which produces mostly corn and soybeans.
Other states with large labor-intensive operations, such as California, face different challenges given their geography, legal landscape and weather. In this context, a labor program focusing on the unique characteristics of agricultural production in the South is essential, Gutierrez-Li says.
Source : ncsu.edu