Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Capital press. (Salem, OR) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2016)
April 29, 2016 CapitalPress.com 3 Study: Fewer farmworkers migrate, aggravating labor shortage Several factors contribute to reduced migration among workers By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press Dan Wheat/Capital Press file Workers prune apple trees in East Wenatchee, Wash. A new study has found that many farmworkers are less likely to migrate from job to job. The agricultural labor shortage has less to do with the shrinking population of farmworkers than with its changing work habits, a new economic study found. Since the late 1990s, the proportion of farmworkers who regularly migrate from place to place has decreased from about 50 percent to less than 20 percent, said Mao- yong Fan, an economist at Ball State University and the study’s lead author. “The key problem is not that we have an absolute smaller number of farmwork- ers, the key problem is they’re not willing to move to take multiple jobs,” Fan said. While the farmworker population dropped about 9 percent during the time pe- riod Fan studied, more than 1 million remain in the in- dustry. “It’s not a dramatic de- crease that would cause this labor shortage,” he said. The percentage of migrat- ing farmworkers remained stable through the 1990s but has declined significantly since the turn of the century, partly due to more vigorous border enforcement since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Fan said. “I was shocked by the magnitude of the decrease,” he said. Farmworkers are less like- ly to travel between the U.S. and Mexico due to stricter en- forcement, but that’s not the only reason for the shift, Fan said. Mexico’s birthrate has fall- en, so fewer young workers are available, while the coun- try’s economic situation has improved, reducing many cit- izens’ willingness to migrate, he said. Immigrants already liv- ing in the U.S. have formed stronger social networks, so they can help new arrivals find work without using agri- culture as a “stepping stone,” he said. “They can find jobs in the city. Agriculture is by- passed now.” The study also noted changes in the demograph- ic makeup of farmworkers. They’re now more likely to be older, more experienced and living in homes with their immediate families, none of which contributes to their willingness to migrate. Dan Fazio, executive di- rector of the WAFLA agricul- tural labor organization, said the study is “absolutely con- sistent with what we’ve seen in the field.” Many farmworkers tradi- tionally earned enough money during the growing season to return to Mexico for the win- ter, Fazio said. As the border became more difficult to cross, they’ve stayed within the U.S. and acquired year-round jobs to sustain themselves, he said. “Now seasonal agricultural work is a lot less attractive.” Farmers have responded by growing multiple crops that are harvested in succes- sion, allowing them to retain farmworkers for longer peri- ods, Fazio said. They’ve further stretched out the growing season with fruit cultivars that ripen ear- lier and later than the normal season, he said. Fan said it’s probable that the phenomenon of farmers retaining workers has contrib- uted to their reduced willing- ness to migrate. While an economist’s typi- cal solution to labor shortages in an industry is higher wag- es, growers would argue that profits are too thin to make such increases possible, he said. Expanding the H-2A guest worker visa program would alleviate the tight labor mar- ket, Fan said. “If we can make that easier, it’s a better solu- tion for this labor shortage problem.” Idaho delivers more equipment to five Rangeland Fire Protection Associations By SEAN ELLIS Capital Press Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Oregon State University wheat breeder Robert Zemetra, right, makes a point during an Oregon Wheat Commission tour April 25. Wheat commission considers budget, research funding By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press Sean Ellis/Capital Press Rancher Michael Guerry explains to the media April 25 how wildland firefighting equipment provided by the Idaho Department of Lands will benefit the state’s Rangeland Fire Protection Associations. wildland firefighting force in Idaho and we are very pleased to be able to add to their capacity today by pro- viding this equipment,” she said. Idaho’s six RFPAs have around 300 members, most- ly ranchers. Together, they provide primary protection on 1.4 million acres of private land and secondary protection on 6.3 million acres of federal and state land. They assisted the state and BLM on 31 wildland fires last year and in many cases provided quick, initial attack, Sullens said. “The response time is the key and where we are out there already, we can get there so much faster and stop them before they get big,” said rancher David Rutan, a mem- ber of the Owyhee RFPA. Guerry said the RFPAs have been a blessing to many ranchers, including himself, who were almost burned out dealing with the large num- ber of wildland fires in south- western Idaho, which has had more repeat fires in the past four decades than any other region in the country. “It’s made my operation feasible,” Guerry said of the association’s effectiveness. Sullens said ranchers fight- ing fires is not a new concept because they have been doing that for generations. “Forming an association where they are working col- laboratively together with the IDL and BLM, with the same training and same gear, that’s the new concept in Ida- ho,” she said. “They know the ground in and out and they provide valuable information. The knowledge that they have is a huge benefit.” Lawsuit over Oregon wolf delisting ruled ‘moot’ Capital Press An environmentalist legal challenge against Oregon’s decision to remove wolves from the state’s endangered species list has been dismissed due to legislation passed earli- er this year. Wolves were delisted by state wildlife regulators last year, but three environmen- tal groups — Cascadia Wild- lands, Center for Biological Diversity and Oregon Wild — asked the Oregon Court of Appeals to reverse that deci- sion, claiming it wasn’t based on sound science. Earlier this year, lawmak- ers passed House Bill 4040, which held that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wild- life had followed the law in delisting wolves. Opponents of the bill claimed it would deny the en- vironmentalists their day in court. Supporters, on the other hand, argued the lawsuit was filed to pressure wildlife reg- ulators while Oregon’s wolf recovery plan is updated. Gov. Kate Brown signed the bill in March despite envi- ronmentalist calls for a veto, stating in a signing letter that the “trajectory of wolf pop- ulations in Oregon remains strong.” The legislation was ex- pected to nullify the legal challenge, which proved cor- rect — on April 22, the Or- egon Court of Appeals held that HB 4040 rendered the en- vironmentalist petition moot. NEW ITEMS! 1 1 ⁄ 2 QT. BASKETS and (3) PINT TRAYS 503-588-8313 2561 Pringle Rd. SE Salem, OR ROP-14-5-1/#24 Call for Pricing. Subject to stock on hand. Delivery Available 18-7/#7 By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Decreasing wheat acre- age over the past couple years poses some complica- tions for the Oregon Wheat Commission as it puts to- gether its 2016-17 budget. Meeting at Oregon State University’s Hyslop Farm on April 25, commission members approved a pro- posed budget that attempts to balance research funding requests with crop assess- ment projections. The com- mission will adopt a final budget before the start of the fiscal year July 1. Commission CEO Blake Rowe said revenue from as- sessments — a fee collected at the time of a wheat crop’s first sale — is projected at $1.85 million in the coming fiscal year. The projection is derived from USDA Na- tional Agricultural Statistics Service acreage estimates and yield averages. Rowe said the average annual revenue from as- sessments is $2.2 million. Meanwhile, research fund- ing requests for the coming fiscal year topped $2.6 mil- lion, Rowe said. “What do you fund ver- sus what do you cut?” he said. “It puts more pressure on the commission to adjust funding.” The commission careful- ly built up its reserve fund over time, but operates un- der rules that require spend- ing down reserves when they reach a certain level. The commission is most likely looking at a $2.2 mil- lion budget, he said. The reserve spending rules come from wheat farmers who “want us to use grower dollars for grower purposes,” Rowe said. Wheat acreage is down in part because some Wil- lamette Valley growers have returned to planting grass seed after giving it up when the market plummet- ed. Grass seed markets are closely tied to housing and other development, which stalled during the recession. “The demand for grass seed really fell through the floor,” Rowe said. “We saw a number of grass seed acres shift over to wheat. Now we’ve seen some go back to grass seed.” Wheat acreage fluctu- ation is not unusual. Ore- gon growers planted about 965,000 acres in 2010, but harvested acreage dropped to 868,000 acres in 2013 and 818,000 acres in 2014, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Ser- vice. In other business, com- mission members toured OSU facilities. Among oth- er things, they saw a com- bine and seed drill scaled for work on research plots. ROP-32-52-2/#17 BOISE — The Idaho De- partment of Lands delivered four wildland firefighting engines and five “slip-in” units to five of the state’s six Rangeland Fire Protection As- sociations April 25. The type 6 engines are light, mobile four-wheel drive vehicles that can hold 300 gal- lons of water. The slip-in units can be placed on a pickup or flatbed truck and consist of a water tank, pump and hose reel and hold 75-300 gallons of water. Idaho’s RFPAs were formed in 2013 by ranchers, who are trained by the federal Bureau of Land Management and assist federal and state agencies in fighting wildfires. RFPA members use their own equipment, but the ad- dition of these new engines and slip-in units will signifi- cantly boost their capacity, said Castleford rancher Mi- chael Guerry, chairman of the Three Creek RFPA. “A well-equipped engine like this will be very benefi- cial to us from a standpoint of early response,” he said shortly before RFPA mem- bers were given a basic over- view of the equipment by IDL mechanics and operators. IDL previously delivered four large water hauling ten- ders to two RFPAs. IDL purchased some of the equipment through with state general fund dollars and grant funding from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and acquired some through the Federal Excess Personal Property program. Julia Sullens, the IDL’s liaison to the RFPAs, said they have greatly benefited Idaho’s wildland firefighting capabilities, in part because they know the land and also because they can more quick- ly respond to many fires. “The RFPAs add incredi- ble capacity and benefit to the