Farming mechanization trends and impact on farm labor force.

[Guest guest]

Tina,

Thank you for forwarding such an informative article on the impact of

mechanization on farmworker labor and the demand for the same in the U.S. The

article prompted me to think about how some of the trends mentioned may impact

on our very own migrant health program as well as future overall federal

farmworker policy in that they all are contingent on the size of the farmworker

labor force. It begs the question of what other trends are there that we should

be monitoring that may have an impact on that labor force and as such our

respective programs and policies. In short, if we are to answer the question "

who are tomorrow's farmworkers? " then we need to have a better understanding of

the U.S. farming industry itself including how it is impacted by government

policy, technological advancements, and globalization trends. The bottom line

for any migrant health center should be, how will changes in any of these areas

impact on the number of MSFWs served by my center, what can the trends tell me?

Below is an excerpt and a link of a report on the decline of the number of farms

and land in farms in the U.S.

What is the Number of Farms in the United States and How Much do they receive in

Sales Each Year? - On February 27, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics

Service Released a Report, titled " Farms and Land in Farms Decline Slightly in

2003, " which states in part that " ... The number of farms in the United States

in 2003 is estimated at 2.13 million, 0.4 percent fewer than in 2002. The

decline in farms occurred in all sales categories except the $250,000-$499,999

class which remained unchanged. Total land in farms, at 938.8 million acres,

decreased 1,550,000 acres from 2002. The average size farm during 2003 was 441

acres, an increase of one acre from the previous year. The decline in the number

of farms and land in farms continues to reflect consolidation in farming

operations and competition for agricultural land for other uses. The U.S. number

of agricultural operations in the economic sales class $1,000-$9,999 declined

0.2 percent to 1,199,270 in 2003. Farms with sales of $10,000-$99,999 decreased

0.7% from 2002 to 600,530. The number of farms with $100,000-$249,999 in sales

was 167,230, a decline of 0.9 percent. In the $250,000-$499,999 sales class, the

number of farms was unchanged from the previous year. The number of agricultural

operations with $500,000 or more of sales declined 0.4% from 2002. Generally

favorable weather, stronger commodity prices, higher value of commodities

produced, farm consolidation, and competition for other uses of farmland

contributed to the shifting of farms among the sales categories ... The number

of farms in 2003 declined in 20 States, remained unchanged in 28 States, and

increased in two States. The largest decline in farms occurred in California

which lost 1,200 places followed by Missouri with 1,000. Other notable declines

were: Minnesota and Nebraska, 900; Indiana, 800; North Carolina, 700; Iowa, 600;

and Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin each losing 500 farms. For the two

states with increased farm numbers, Mississippi added 600 and Montana 100

places. Texas, with 130.5 million acres of farm and ranch land, leads the

nation. The farm and ranch acreage for Texas in 2003 was unchanged from 2002.

States with the largest decreases in land in farms were: California, down

500,000 acres; Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota,

New Mexico, Tennessee, and Wisconsin each lost 100,000 acres. Other states

showing declines in agricultural acreage were: Virginia, 70,000 acres; Indiana

and Wyoming, 60,000 acres; Louisiana and Washington, 50,000 acres; land,

20,000 acres; and Delaware, New York, Ohio, and Vermont each with 10,000 fewer

acres. After several years of drought conditions, renewed public grazing

allotments contributed to an increase of 300,000 acres in Montana's ranch land

.... " - The complete report is posted at

<http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/nassr/other/zfl-bb/fmno0204.txt>

Ruiz

Assistant Director Systems Development and Policy Administration

Migrant Health Coordinator

National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc.

7200 Wisconsin Avenue Suite 210

Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 347-0442

(301) 347-0459 FAX

(202) 365-0154 Cell Phone

jruiz@...

www.nachc.com

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