Farmers forced to destroy crops

[Cindy S.]

This is insane!



http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/base/news-23/1179501703232610.xml&coll=7

[HSmomto4]

Yes it is insane! It is insane that this is nothing more than a push to legalize the illegal immigrants who were working the fields. I grew up in a town that was nothing but farms. We never had a shortage of people working there either. I think it is a shame what they are trying to do!

"The AgJobs program pushed by Feinstein and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, would create a five-year pilot program to legalize immigration status for those who have worked in U.S. agriculture for at least 150 days during the previous two years."

[Cindy S.]

Yes it is insane! It is insane that this is nothing more than a push to legalize the illegal immigrants who were working the fields. I grew up in a town that was nothing but farms. We never had a shortage of people working there either. I think it is a shame what they are trying to do!

"The AgJobs program pushed by Feinstein and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, would create a five-year pilot program to legalize immigration status for those who have worked in U.S. agriculture for at least 150 days during the previous two years."


I was thinking that if farmers can't hire illegals for low wages, they are going to have to pay min. wage and the prices for food are going to skyrocket.

[Theresa]

I live in Michigan, and I don't remember hearing about the problem of having no one to pick the produce. I have an idea. Instead of just mowing over crops, make an offer to people to pick the the produce themselves (like a u-pick farm) - they pick one or two or three (whatever it figures to be) bushels for you and get to take one home with no charge. Would something like that work, or is it "better" for the farmer to destroy good food and take a tax write-off?

[Cd4u]

Someone told me that farmers get alot of money from the government.. if so, they could use that money to hired employees. To me, illegal immigrants to run a plantation is like the slaves before the civil war. They always hire people who work for little.

[Cindy S.]

I live in Michigan, and I don't remember hearing about the problem of having no one to pick the produce. I have an idea. Instead of just mowing over crops, make an offer to people to pick the the produce themselves (like a u-pick farm) - they pick one or two or three (whatever it figures to be) bushels for you and get to take one home with no charge. Would something like that work, or is it "better" for the farmer to destroy good food and take a tax write-off?


I suppose with asparagus, it would be no good if it didn't get picked as with most crops.

These days you can't even give food to the poor if you have no one to help you pick it and I know some people that are too lazy to help themselves. It's easier to wait by the mailbox for your ummm...state check.

[Vonne]

Migrant workers in Oceana County are reporting that some farmers are trying to pay them less money this year, Gonzalez-Cortes said.

For example, last year asparagus crops were bountiful, and farmers paid workers by the box. This year crops are much smaller, and growers want to pay hourly wages instead.

``Do you expect farmworkers to not know Economics 101?'' Gonzalez-Cortes said. ``People have the opportunity to vote with their feet, and they're not coming.''

Sorry, I just don't really have sympathy here to the farmers plight... in these situations

[keylan]

I live in MI too.Our unemployment is the second highest in the nation. Cant find workers? Or cant find workers to exploit? i know plenty of people who would gladly work for minimium wage, apparently the farmers must be hanging out in a higher rent district thsn me.

[House of Light]

I was thinking that if farmers can't hire illegals for low wages, they are going to have to pay min. wage and the prices for food are going to skyrocket.


Farmers can't name their own prices.....so regardless of how much money they put into the crop, they get paid a price that they don't get to pick.

This is a problem. Farmers right now have to fuel their tractors....and with the price of rising fuel costs, they do not get more for their crop because of this. Around here, sugar beets are a big crop, and many migrants work the fields. They are paid well. No one else wants to stand in a blazing hot field and hoe. Yet, their whole families hoe entire fields of sugar beets.


The government has programs out their for farmers. No, they do not get a "whole lotta money". They are compensated for the low prices that their crops get....many farmers only come out even after the compensation. Many don't even come out even. It will be worse this summer with the cost of gas to fuel their machinery. We are talking near $1000.00 to fill a tractor.

Our food prices may not rise immediately....and certainly not to the proportion that of farmers expenses, but many farmers may go bankrupt.

This happened to my dad in the early 1980's.

[professor h]

The government has programs out their for farmers. No, they do not get a "whole lotta money". They are compensated for the low prices that their crops get....many farmers only come out even after the compensation. Many don't even come out even. It will be worse this summer with the cost of gas to fuel their machinery. We are talking near $1000.00 to fill a tractor.



Yeah, subsidies are far from generous. They are generally just enough to keep a farm afloat, not even close to anything approaching a significant profit.

It really is a big catch 22 - hiring illegal immigrant workers is cost efficient, but illegal. Hiring legal workers is expensive, and will definitely result in higher prices for the consumer. There is no right answer for the farmers.