Comparing Farm Labor Trends in Michigan and Oregon Vera Bitsch - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Comparing Farm Labor Trends in Michigan and Oregon

Vera Bitsch Dept of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics Michigan State University

Top States with Labor Intensive Crops

Fruits+ $18.6 b’ll

CA FL WA OR MI

Vegetables+ $14.7 b’ll

CA FL AZ WA ID

Flowers+ $16.6 b’ll

CA FL OR PA TX

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Payroll & Hired Workers

State Payroll (Million Dollar) Hired Worker (Thousand) California 5,016 448 Florida 1,209 115 Texas 1,170 155 Washington 1,151 238 Oregon 817 106 Wisconsin 785 76 North Carolina 623 77 Michigan 607 86 Pennsylvania 591 61 New York 583 60 U.S. (total) 21,878 2,637

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Labor Expenses

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 1,000,000

MI OR MI OR MI OR 1997 2002 2007

Labor expenses/$1,000

Contract labor Hired labor

Contract Labor in Labor Intensive Crops, 2007

Michigan Oregon U.S. total Fruits, tree nuts 10.8% 14.9% 36.0% Vegetables, melons 4.9% 7.3% 28.6% Ornamentals 4.3% 9.0% 6.1%

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Compare to top fruit and vegetable producing states

• Fruits, nuts: CA-42.5%, FL-66.7%, WA-4.6%
• Vegetables: CA-41.1%, FL-24.4%, AZ-36.3%,

WA-6.5%, ID-9.1%

Share of Labor Expenses in Labor Intense Production

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Vegetables, melons Fruit, tree nuts Ornamentals Vegetables, melons Fruit, tree nuts Ornamentals MI OR

1997 2002 2007

Sales per Worker

Commodity Group 1997 2002 2007 MI | OR MI | OR MI | OR Vegetables, melons

22,202 | 28,578 27,752 | 33,125 30,743 | 42,244

Fruits, tree nuts

9,909 | 7,127 9,354 | 6,201 16,609 | 13,214

Ornamentals

22,540 | 24,110 33,411 | 30,284 36,624 | 37,487

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Monetary Labor Productivity

Commodity Group 1997 2002 2007

MI | OR MI | OR MI | OR

Vegetables, melons

5.51| 6.77 5.49|5.82 4.65|5.31

Fruits, tree nuts

4.06|3.11 3.25|2.51 3.95|2.98

Ornamentals

3.83|3.28 3.86|3.07 3.66|2.73

Total

8.96|5.66 7.47|4.75 8.86|4.92

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Short-term & Long-term Labor

Workers Hired 1997 2002 2007 Employed less than 150 days MI 74,869 63,821 61,788 OR 100,936 95,506 77,936 Employed 150 days or more MI 20,996 23,034 24,284 OR 23,484 27,339 28,384 Total workers hired MI 95,865 86,855 86,072 OR 124,420 122,845 106,320

Data Source: Census of Agriculture

Comparing Wage Rates

Data Source: NASS

6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00 11.00 12.00

U.S. Oregon Michigan Dollars/Hour

Oregon Minimum Wage Effect

6.5 7.5 8.5 9.5 10.5 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Minimum wage Median wage Average wage Dollars/Hour

Data Sources: Stevenson et al. & U.S. Department of Labor

Migrant & Resident Farm Workers

MI: 76.7% of 45,800 MSFW are

migratory (Larson, 2006)

OR: 38.6% of 103,453 MSFW

are migratory (Larson, 2002)

WA: 79% FW reside in-state;

70% don’t leave local area for work (WA State Farmworker Housing Trust)

Farm Worker Characteristics

Migrant stream by sending regions:

48% of the Midwestern stream from U.S. & Puerto Rico; 6% of the Western stream; rest mostly from Mexico; 2% from other countries

Unauthorized: 29% in Midwest; 61% in

West

Newcomers: 9% in Midwest; 19% in West Spanish main language: 54% in Midwest

92% in West

Data Source: Carroll et al.

Farm Labor Housing

MI reports over 800 licensed

labor camps for around 22,000

• ccupants (2008)

OR reports 356 labor camps

with 11,916 occupants (2004)

MI: 71.5% live in employer-

• wned units

OR: 99.2% live in private

market units

Data Source: Holden et al. Data Source: Holden et al.

Labor Camp Licenses/Registration

Requirements for licenses in

MI, registration in OR & inspection standards similar

$15,000 bond for labor

contractors, plus put up workers ordered to vacate

MI penalty for unlicensed camp

<$1,000/day , $10,000 max.

OR penalty $250 - $7,000

Farm Labor Housing Conditions

Housing Units U.S./ Percent Michigan/ Percent Oregon/ Percent Crowded 51.8 61.5 40.5 Crowded w/ children 74.4 96.0 85.4 Sub- standard 34.6 45.6 51.8 Lack > 1 appliance 21.6 27.7 38.0

Data Source: Holden et al.

MI Farm Labor Housing

Trio-Pac

Farms

On-Farm

Labor Housing

16 Units -

Seasonal

Gregory, MI

Photo courtesy of Juan Cruz USDA Rural Development, MI

MI Farm Labor Housing

Photo courtesy of Juan Cruz USDA Rural Development, MI

Shinn Farm On-Farm

Labor Housing

1 Unit –

Year Round

Croswell, MI

MI Farm Labor Housing

On-Farm

Labor Housing

3-Apartment

Unit

Charlotte, MI

Photo courtesy of Juan Cruz USDA Rural Development, MI

Conclusions

Share of contract labor in labor

intensive crops low in MI & OR compared to CA and FL

Overall, share of contract labor is

decreasing in MI, increasing in OR

Share of labor expenses in total

expenses higher in OR for

• rnamental, as well as fruit

production, slightly higher in MI for vegetable production

Conclusions Continued

Number of long-term workers

increasing, number of short-term workers decreasing in MI & OR

Except most recently, wage rates

have developed similarly in OR & MI, despite OR minimum wage indexing

In labor intensive crops, sales

increases have not kept up with labor expense increases

Conclusions Continued

76.7% migratory MSFW in MI, 38.6% in

OR

More unauthorized, more newcomers,

and more with Spanish main language in West than Midwest

MI labor housing more likely on-farm,

twice as many licensed camps than OR, despite much smaller farm workforce

Comparing MI and OR, off-farm housing

(OR) does not have fewer quality problems than on-farm housing (MI)