But, now, in what sounds like a Nobel-worthy innovation, it turns out the Law of Supply and Demand is actually working in the Central Valley the same way it works everywhere else:
Valley farm-labor shortage boosts wages for workers
By Robert Rodriguez - The Fresno Bee
Friday, May. 10, 2013 | 11:48 PM
Fears of a potential farm labor shortage have caused San Joaquin Valley growers to boost wages to as much as $10 an hour this year to attract and keep workers for the harvest season.
With the farm-labor pool already tight and crops ready to be picked, growers are scrambling to secure their supply of workers.
"It is getting very competitive out there and employers are having to offer incentives to find the labor they need," said Oscar Ramos, a grape farmer and Kingsburg-based farm-labor contractor. "And one of those incentives is higher wages."
Farmers and agriculture industry leaders say wages have risen $1 to a $1.50 an hour this year compared to last year, or as much as 12%. Among Valley farmers, hourly wages are hovering between $9 and $10 an hour, which is higher than California's minimum wage of $8.
Wages could go even higher. In September 2012, the average hourly earnings for San Joaquin Valley farmworkers rose to $12.09 during the peak of the harvest season.
For workers like Jose Aceves, the higher wage is a welcome relief. Aceves and a crew of about 20 workers harvested peaches for HMC Farms in the Selma area Friday morning.
"We really appreciate being paid more," Aceves said.
I'm starting to wonder if this isn't an Onion article, except I know the Onion would never touch this subject.
"Because we know how hard it is right now for some farms to find enough workers. There just aren't as many people as there used to be."
Experts say tighter border security, increased smuggling costs for immigrants and drug-related violence are contributing to fewer people coming to the United States from Mexico -- a longtime source of undocumented workers for Valley farmers.
Adding a new wrinkle to the shortage of workers is the fear of immigration sweeps. On Friday, agriculture officials, farmers and law enforcement came together to quell rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials were rounding up people.
Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League, said he spoke to federal officials, who assured him that no raids are taking place. Cunha said the rumors couldn't have come at a worse time.
"We already have a labor shortage and this only exacerbates the problem," Cunha said. "People are staying home because they are afraid."
Wait a minute ... I keep reading about how the Obama Administration is deporting vast numbers of illegal aliens, but here it says they aren't doing any work place enforcement in the world's most famous site of employment of illegal immigrants. (If I wasn't a nice person, I might assume that the Obama Administration merely changed how they count deportations to reassure voters opposed to illegal immigration.) And I thought nobody was immigrating ever again from Mexico.
Farmers knew the shortage was going to get worse before it got better. After dealing with fewer workers last year, they were spurred to take quick action this season.
"What we are seeing is the concern farmers have that they may not get the workers they need, or that they lose them to someone else," said Barry Bedwell, president of the Fresno-based California Grape and Tree Fruit League. "And it is already happening."
Bedwell said he heard from a grape grower who lost workers to another farmer who was paying higher wages.
The horror, the horror ...
Fortunately, this ground-breaking experiment in economic theory won't have to proceed much further because the Gang of Eight's immigration bill is raising the number of farm labor guest workers. And we all know that America is greatly benefited by Mexican guest workers coming here and having lots of children. Only unscientific social scientists like Jason Richwine or Christopher Jencks would have any concerns about the intellectual acuity and economic productivity of descendants of stoop laborers.
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"It is getting very competitive out there and employers are having to offer incentives to find the labor they need," said Oscar Ramos, a grape farmer and Kingsburg-based farm-labor contractor. "And one of those incentives is higher wages."
Incredible!
"Bedwell said he heard from a grape grower who lost workers to another farmer who was paying higher wages."
Employers competing for scarce labor--that's the way it's suppose to be.
I've always been highly skeptical of the claims regarding the number of deportations under Obama. Several months ago, I was reading through Andrew Sullivan's blog, and came across a piece in which Sullivan stopped licking Obama's boots for long enough to berate Master for his "draconian" immigration policies. Too many deportations, you see.
NYT: Countries Lobby for More in Race for U.S. Visas
"The deals are already drawing some criticism, particularly from those who worry that some of the provisions — in addition to already increased annual visa allotments available generally — could create an influx of foreigners large enough to undermine American workers.
“This could turn into a stealth immigration policy,” said Ronil Hira, a professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology who studies the immigration system. “Every country is going to try to negotiate its own carve-out.”
Indeed, lawmakers are already pushing to grant special benefits to other places, including Tibet, Hong Kong and parts of Africa."
Article here.
But we can't afford it !!!
Whatever happened to that excuse?
>"growers are scrambling to secure their supply of workers"<
They can pay if they have to. Notice the story doesn't mention that any of these growers will go out of business by raising wages from $1.00 per hour to $1.50 per hour. Certainly all the crops will come in.
Growers could be forced to double wages, and you would hear a lot of bitching, but the harvest would keep coming in - and growers and workers and the whole society would be better off. Wealth circulating among the people who help to produce it is what constitutes a sustainable economy.
Holy cow - fewer and fewer workers will be eligible for food stamps if this keeps up. Obama must stop this ugly development (I believe it's called "capitalism") asap!
Farms are paying more for stoop labor? This is worth watching. We can get an empirical test of 'If farmers have to pay slightly higher wages and make marginal improvements in working conditions a head of lettuce will cost a brazilian dollars!'
$10/hour? How will we ever afford it? This means that when I go to buy lettuce tomorrow, it'll be $8/pound, right?
The horror, the horror! I revere Eliot but academic literary criticism -- including the sample cited -- is the most damnable thing imaginable.
Steve:
Do you have any data on whether Obama's deportation numbers were somehow cooked? What I remember is hearing him get slammed in Spanish language press over how high they were.
Also, after Richwine got fired, I imagine you can count on absolutely no social scientists working for Heritage investigating this issue further. Probably this applies to a number of other think tanks as well. Most social scientists probably have some research or publication somewhere that would be sufficient to use for a smear job, and on this issue, the conservative media are absolutely not going to give them any support. It almost makes you wonder whether there might be something unhealthy about having most of the intellectual firepower and most of the megaphones in your intellectual movement working for a smallish set of billionare media owners, hobbyists, and big-time donors.
Thanks but no thanks on the "More Photos" offer.
I know. That really comes as often as not as a threat now, doesn't it?
"Only unscientific social scientists like Jason Richwine or Christopher Jencks would have any concerns about the intellectual acuity and economic productivity of descendants of stoop laborers."
That's one point. The other one, which imho is the main one, and as you have pointed out, is that our left bell curve crowd now gets 3rd world wages. And it's their fault, somehow.
Both the left and the right now hate the poor natives. One cause it's their fault their lazy, the other cause it's their fault their dumb (and probably bigotted too).
Farms are paying more for stoop labor? This is worth watching. We can get an empirical test of 'If farmers have to pay slightly higher wages and make marginal improvements in working conditions a head of lettuce will cost a brazilian dollars!'
I realize this was somewhat in jest, but know that even the mainstream economic estimates put the cost of labor as just a teeny fraction of food end prices. I don't recall the precise number but it could have been around 10 percent. I am just saying that I am not sure we really need the empirical evidence, although it would be helpful.
"Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno-based Nisei Farmers League ..."
Now that was a strange introduction! Had to look that one up. Found this:
Nisei Farmers League Today
In 1971, a small group of Japanese-American growers met near Fresno to discuss the mounting problems being faced by California agriculture. It was a turbulent time. The newly formed United Farm Workers labor union was increasing pressure on farms throughout the San Joaquin Valley. Growers were struggling daily with picketing, boycotts and changes to the state labor law. The group talked about the need to unify growers and to establish a rapid-response support network to protect property and insure grower rights. Within months more growers joined the discussion, a meeting was held and an organization was formed, taking its name from the term for second-generation Japanese-American or “Nisei” farmers.
As a “mutual protection society”, the early Nisei Farmers League proved effective in defending the rights and property of its grower members. Membership swelled and soon the Nisei members were outnumbered by growers from many other nationalities. The violence and threats of the seventies eventually subsided but the idea of grower unification strengthened. The NFL quickly evolved into a sophisticated grower support organization committed to giving its membership a strong, informed voice in dealing with a growing array of issues. Today, from the fields of the San Joaquin Valley to the halls of government, the Nisei Farmers League is well-respected for its tireless commitment to serving the needs of its grower members and all of California agriculture.
BTW, if there was ever a time for introducing politically difficult changes to agriculture, it is now. These are very good days for many farmers, due to increased demand from China and India that has raised food commodity prices. Canada kiboshed a long-established grain marketing board last year and it didn't even cause a blip.
So, the Nisei Farmers League was formed to crush Cesar Chavez, and in today's political environment, that makes them the go-to-guys for why only evil racists don't want them to get more guestworker visas to keep crops from rotting in the fields.
Mistuh Kurtz, the free market be alive and farmowners have not yet been able to collude on shifting the labor supply curve!
I love the smell of rising wages in the morning!
The horror! The horror!
Conspiracy Wingnut Productions presents:
aCROPalypse Now!
The California Grape and Tree Fruit League? I thought the major league baseball season has already started.
Why can't we import lettuce instead of Mexicans? I recommend that everyone complain to their grocer that we want to buy Mexican, not American lettuce.
Buy Mexican!
Eleanor Clift hits all the standard talking points this week in the first segment.
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