Farmworkers are the men, women, and children who bring food to our tables every day, our glass of orange juice, our salad, and our pecan pie dessert. Approximately three-quarters of farmworkers earn less than $10,000 per year for picking and packing the fruits and vegetables that we eat every day.1 Farmworkers play soccer and volleyball; have weddings, and funerals; and their children attend public schools.
Most farmworkers pay U.S. taxes, whether they have legal documentation to work in the U.S. or not.
Some farmworkers are in the United States temporarily; others live here permanently and may be U.S. citizens.
Some farmworkers are in the United States temporarily; others live here permanently and may be U.S. citizens. For at least the past 70 years, farmworkers in the United States have included recent immigrants looking for a better way of life for their families back home.
"I just want to earn enough to put a second floor on my family’s home so our house is not destroyed when the rains come." (Translated from Spanish) - Guatemalan farmworker picking blueberries in New Jersey after Hurricane Mitch plowed through parts of Central America in 1999.
Many farmworkers travel thousands of miles each year to secure agricultural employment. Oftentimes, they come to the United States because they cannot find work in their native country. Others were farmers in their homeland, engaging in subsistence farming, and struggling to make a living wage for their families.
Farmworkers in the United States generally fall into four categories: migrant, seasonal, year-round, and day haulers.
Migrant farmworkers follow the harvest seasons and move between and within states. For example, a farmworker may pick tomatoes in Florida from November through April, blueberries in New Jersey during July and August, apples in Pennsylvania from September through November, and then go back to Florida for the winter.
Seasonal farmworkers live in one place year-round, working in agriculture part of the year and engaging in other labor (i.e. construction or factory shift work) during the “off-season.”
Year-round farmworkers live and work in one place year-round, generally picking and packing during the growing season and pruning, planning, and preparing the ground and crops during the off-season.
Day haulers are brought in from nearby areas to work for the day and then return home.
1 - National Center for Farmworker Health. “Facts About Farmworkers.” (Buda, TX)
2 - U.S. Department of Labor. “The National Agricultural Workers Survey” (Washington, DC) 2005.
