Thread: American Farming. IMMIGRATION. Future Evolution of US Farm

American Farming and IMMIGRATION.
Evolution and Future of US Farm
The need for Labor and Automation



Hi, I am interested in the Evolution of Farming in America.

What percentage of Labor is done by IMMIGRANTS legal or illegal.

Which are the American States where IMMIGRANTS have a larger farming concentration ??

Those agricultural areas of the North are free of IMMIGRATION. I presume ??

Is it true that the U. S. Farmer as we see in Old Movies ( Lassie or Wizard of OZ ) is disappearing ??

And that only Big Corporate Farming has a Future ???

Is it true that the Future of U. S. Agriculture lies in full automation where the tractors and vehicles are not manned but fully robotized ???

I assume that there are crops that are "delicate or fragile" and therefore are not easy subjects to automation :

Vineyards, Grapes, Berries of all kinds. Delicate Fruits, etc .... Machines could destroy the fruit or the tree/shrub.

So I assume that the IMMIGRANT ( Legal or Illegal ) is most wanted where labor can not be replaced by machines.

Is it true that there is a backlash against hydroponics because of concentration of chemicals. ???

And what about Canada ??? .... .Does it have a share of immigrant labor in Agriculture. Does Canadian Agriculture have a future or is a Long Winter a serious obstacle for Efficiency and Productivity. ???

Is Agriculture flowing to the Southern States or are they threatened by Hurricanes and Tornados ???

Perhaps the Future of American Agriculture is in Cereals ??? ( Less vulnerable to Hurricanes and better for the Northern States ??? ) And also cereals do not require so much labor ???

Thank you very much for any information

Vicente Duque

Vincente

One of the problems is the separation of production and market. The percentage of the retail price which goes to farmers is important. The state with the largest number of illegal immigrant farm workers is California. The farmers in much of California are heavily subsidized by being recipents of irrigation. Since the market for the produce is throughout the nation there is a cost of shipment within the end price.

There are crops which it would make more sense to produce on small farms close to market that way the farmers get a higher portion of the end price. The way that the California farmers make up for cost of shipment is by using illegal labor. Strawberries are a prime example of this farm problem. California Plantation grown strawberries could not happen without cheap water and cheap labor.

Strawberries are an annual crop and land used for it can be changed over fairly easily. As farm labor gets harder to obtain tree farmers who have to wait five years for a crop are
likely to out bid strawberry farmers. Production will shift to Mexico and smaller exurban farms with farmstands. Long term California might be better in cereals.

The cereal production business does have a separation of farm and equipment ownership. There are combine operators who move with the crop from Texas up to the Dakotas. That way the small (relative to grain) farmers do not need to buy equiment that wil only be used a few weeks every year.

Richard :

Thanks for reply. I always find that your posts are excellent, specially in the topics of economics and agriculture and I learn a lot.


I draw the following lessons from your post :

1) California subsidizes irrigation. But as I see on TV Documentaries California and Colorado have overexploited Water Resources. Is there any economical rationale in subsidizing Irrigation if the Environmental cost is going to be so Huge ???

Wouldn't it be more rational to send the immigrants home and produce the fruits in Mexico or Cental America and so save a lot of environmental damage in the USA ??? .... And save some social strife and social conflict produced by foreigners ???


2) Strawberries, Tomatos, Grapes .... I am suspecting that the main agricultural employment for immigrants is in the fruit industry and fruit gathering. You only mention California in regard to fruits, but what about Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and other border states, or states close to Mexico ??? ... Do they produce fruit with immigrants ???


3) You reinforce my idea or prejudice that God made America for Cereals when you say that "Long term California might be better in cereals" ... Texas and the Dakotas might have a similar climate to California I presume ???


4) Finally one of our good friends in this ALIPAC Forum has told me in public posts that he is very sad about The Roses of California and Colorado. This industry has suffered a lot from the competition of my own country Colombia, which is number one producer of roses worlwide and probably of other flowers like carnations and hydrangeas.

But it seems that God made Colombia for the Flower Industry since it rains many more times than in the USA. The dams are constantly filled to Total Capacity and the Rivers and Streams are constantly dangerous and furious. There is plenty of regular tropical sunshine as well for the whole year. So it is very rational to grow flowers in Colombia. Less than three hours away from Miami or New Orleans.


5) This does not mean that I am in favor of an Andean Trade Agreement. In fact I am deeply worried that such negotiations to be closed and concluded in November are going to ruin Colombia and produce a Big Failure of American Foreign Policy.

Not to mention massive EMIGRATION.

Thanks

Vicente Duque