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Farm workers

Strong dollar is squeezing profits from this Washington farmer's exports

by Kai Ryssdal and Anais Amin
Jul 21, 2022
Patrick Smith, CEO of Loftus Ranches, is fighting inflation as well. Some fertilizer materials have nearly doubled in a year or two, he says.
"Beer is still good business," says Patrick Smith, CEO of Loftus Ranches in Yakima, Washington. Above, fresh hops from a California farm.
Katherine Garrova/Marketplace
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Immigration bill would create expedited citizenship path for some farmworkers

by Samantha Fields
Feb 19, 2021
Farmworkers who can show they’ve worked at least 400 work days in the last five years would be eligible for a faster track.
David McNew/AFP via Getty Images
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Workplace Culture

As wildfires continue, air quality impacts farmworkers — masks requirements vary

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Sep 15, 2020
California has regulations, but it's been hard to get PPE to workers in the fields. There's no federal standard.
Cars drive below an orange sky filled with wildfire smoke in Concord, California, on Sept. 9.
Brittany Hosea-Small/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

Northwest growers grapple with COVID-19 as spring harvests start to come in

by Anna King
May 15, 2020
Workers can stay distanced in the fields, but they work in close quarters in areas where the harvest is processed.
Jim Middleton farms asparagus north of Pasco, Wash. He says he’s worried about keeping his workers healthy, especially ones in tighter quarters in his operation’s vegetable packing shed.
Anna King/NW News Network
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Why it's the "nonfarm" payrolls report

by Mitchell Hartman
May 1, 2019
The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report doesn't count jobs down on the farm. We explain why.
Farmworkers pull weeds in a spinach field near El Centro, California, in January.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
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E-Verify could make it even harder for farmers and construction companies to find workers

by Andy Uhler
Sep 28, 2018
A bill in Congress would require all employers to use the government’s E-Verify system.
Mexican migrant workers harvest organic parsley at Grant Family Farms on October 11, 2011 in Wellington, Colorado. 
John Moore/Getty Images
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Heat exposure can be deadly for farm workers. Now, advocates are asking the feds to step in

by Eilís O'Neill
Sep 18, 2018
Over the past three decades, about 800 workers have died from heat exposure; almost one in five worked in agriculture.
JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images
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Mushroom farmers dependent on immigrant labor fear worker shortage

by Marketplace Contributor
Jun 13, 2017
Growers say fears of immigration enforcement under Trump may already be hitting their bottom line.
A bed of white agaricus mushrooms, commonly known as button mushrooms, at Pietro Industries in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
Laura Benshoff
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Farm workers face shortage of decent, affordable homes

by Kristofor Husted
Feb 4, 2016
About three-quarters of hired crop workers work within 75 miles from home.
Former migrant farmworker Angel Castro stands in front of a trailer where he used to live, in a neighborhood that still houses many immigrant farmworkers.
Kristofor Husted
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Cellphones bring new leverage for farm workers

by Rowan Moore Gerety
Dec 18, 2014
Workers in Washington state apple orchards use phones to find best-paying jobs.
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