Mexicans Are Leaving Farm Work: What Does It Mean for U.S. Agriculture and Immigration Policy?
Charlton, Diane and J. Edward Taylor
from ARE Update Vol. 16, No. 4, Mar/Apr, 2013
Abstract
New econometric evidence shows a declining trend in the farm labor supply from households in rural Mexico, which are the main source of hired labor for U.S. agriculture. At the same time, after a decade of decline, employment on Mexico's fruit, vegetable, and horticultural farms is beginning to rise. This means that U.S. and Mexican farmers are competing for a dwindling supply of farm workers. Changing crop choice, technologies, and management practices, rather than immigration policy, will be the keys to adjusting to a new era of relative farm labor scarcity.
Keywords
Farm labor, agricultural workers, agricultural policy
Citation
Charlton, Diane and J. Edward Taylor. 2013. "Mexicans Are Leaving Farm Work: What Does It Mean for U.S. Agriculture and Immigration Policy?" ARE Update 16(4): 1-4. University of California Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics.
https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1453327768/16912/