Readers react to farmworker shortage
A Times story prompts a debate about why Americans don’t want field jobs.
Readers are usually not shy about offering their opinions on a topic like immigration. So it was when we published a story Friday on latimes.com that featured farmers who say they can’t lure American-born workers into the fields, even with $16an-hour wages and hefty benefits.
The article, which drew more than 6,000 likes and comments on The Times website and Facebook, looked at how a tighter border has contributed to a shortage of California farmworkers. Growers say the shortage will get worse if Trump ratchets up immigration enforcement.
The Trump team says fewer immigrants would boost job prospects and pay for domestic workers, but farmers said they rarely have U.S. workers apply for jobs — and when they do come, they don’t stay past their first lunch break.
Perhaps surprisingly, then, some readers indicated that the rising pay of farm work — to as much as $16 an hour in Napa County — would tempt them to consider work in the fields. It also prompted a debate that raged in the comments section, on Facebook, Twitter and in emails to the writers about why unemployed Americans don’t want these jobs.
Pete Richmond, the president of Silverado Farming Co., a farm labor contracting company named in the story, said he has been “inundated” with calls and emails from college students, out-of-state workers and one landscaper inquiring about openings in Napa vineyards.
A Texas couple told Richmond that they would happily tend grapevines every day — if he paid for two airline tickets to California. He said he couldn’t foot the bill for the flights but would love to have them; he hasn’t heard back yet.
Another man asked whether Richmond would take on a group of college students to work during spring break.
One reader told Richmond that he wasn’t afraid of hard work, weighed 200 pounds and would love the opportunity to work in Napa.
“I have responded to every person who has asked for a job, and of course nobody has followed up,” Richmond said.
California farms are increasing wages — twice as fast as average pay in the state over the last five years — but the raises are mainly benefiting foreigners. Nine in 10 farmworkers in the state weren’t born in the U.S., and more than half are undocumented, according to a federal survey.
Fatter paychecks aren’t drawing in Americans from other low-wage industries. So growers of higher value crops, like Napa wine grapes, are poaching workers from areas where farmers are producing less valuable wine. Many of the growers who can’t afford to keep raising pay are desperate, and they are being forced to decide whether they need to replace humans with machines on the fields, rip up their crops or turn away from some of the state’s iconic fruits and vegetables.
A citrus farmer in Ojai told us that the labor problem would only get worse.
“Do you think Americans will pay more for fruit & veggies to assure they were picked by Americans?” he asked in an email. “Folks seem comfy buying ‘fair trade’ coffee to encourage justice for the farmers, but I’m not sure it will work for lettuce.”
At least a few readers said they would, in fact, pony up more money to pay higher prices on food farmed by American-born workers.
“I would be willing to pay the extra 15 cents a head to ensure a profit for the farmer,” wrote one commenter identified as IHate TheLATimes.
Another commenter claimed to have pruned vineyards and said it was particularly difficult work. Grapevines can whip workers in the face when they’re pulled, the sun scorches and the work is repetitive.
“I would never ever work there again even if they paid me 100 dollars an hour,” said Anonymous1792.
Still, that same person had confidence that “Americans are willing to do this job but people are going to have to change their view about working in the field.”
Several readers said the social safety net is to blame for incentivizing Americans to stay out of the workforce rather than signing up for manual labor on farms.
“There ARE Americans that can take these jobs instead of just living on government handouts,” wrote one commenter, 10isgirl. “When we make it harder to get ‘free’ money and food, I can almost guarantee that those ‘Jobs that Americans won’t take’ will start filling up.”
Another reader, jimjay43751, noted: “If you are able bodied and on welfare, unemployment, or Medicaid, you should be required to work on a farm to get benefits.”