No, America’s Farmers Don’t Rely On Illegal Immigrants

National Economics Editorial ^ | Nov 20, 2017 | Spencer P Morrison

[Thalean]

A 2011 report published by the Federation for American Immigration Reform found that the agriculture industry was one of America’s most profitable sectors, and could easily afford to pay its workers 20-30 percent more without significantly impacting profits.

Furthermore, research conducted by Philip Martin, a leading expert on farm labor and migration issues, found that labor costs are negligible compared to the retail cost of produce. In 2006 Martin found that only 5-6 cents of every dollar spent on produce is due to labor costs. Therefore, if illegal aliens were removed from the labor force entirely, and labor costs rose by up to 40 percent to attract American workers, labor would still only account for 7-9 cents. Over the course of a year, this works out to just $9.00 extra for the average household.

[Thalean]

The cost associated with paying for illegal aliens (healthcare, welfare, education for their children) is far greater than the small amount of money we save annually to get them to pick our crops. The economic justifications for illegal immigration ring completely hollow when compared to the actual data.

[Pilgrim's Progress]

>>>immigrants<<<

Uh, I believe the word is ‘aliens.’ Immigrants have documentation.

[tired&retired]

I just had this conversation with a close friend who owns a family dairy farm milking about 200 cows twice per day.

The dairy prices are suppressed due to the corporate farms who are milking 1000+ head increasing milk production. The total output is at record highs while the number of dairy farms is decreasing.

While the small family farm is using family labor, or paying a fair wage to a US Citizen, the corporate farms are using Mexicans and paying them squat by providing housing and calling it part of the pay. They live in bunk houses and milk three times per day, working the herds in three shifts for round the clock milking.

Thus the cheap Mexican labor is killing the family farm.

Dairy farming is very labor intensive.

[tired&retired]

This is a case of figures don’t lie, but liars figure.

Their calculations are misleading.

[ptsal]

Time out....
The male workers show-up and bring their bride with them. In the blink of an eye, the female gives birth to a child and has another one baking in the oven. The whole social service economy is built around serving this special interest group: the walk-in illegal alien.

These NGOs and semi-NGOs have programs aimed at instructing the illegals on how to “game” the system and maximize food and service handouts.

The cost to the city, county, and state are horrendous.

Enough....go back to your country of origin.

[ptsal]

If a few farmers were frog-marched to the court house and charged in these matters, the problem would be dealt with.

Fast food and other hospitality operations are other hosts to the illegal labor problem.

It is time to focus on the Exploiter, and not the Exploitee.

Arrest the “john” in this ring of labor pimping.

[Nifster]

Build the wall

[tired&retired]

Time out....
The male workers show-up and bring their bride with them. In the blink of an eye, the female gives birth to a child and has another one baking in the oven. The whole social service economy is built around serving this special interest group: the walk-in illegal alien.

I totally agree and I have observed it first hand.

The children’s medical costs are covered by CHIP which includes the mother during pregnancy. The children are in public schools at a cost of at least $10,000 per student per year. They get $1,000 per child tax credit and another $3 to $5 thousand EIC tax refund.

They pay no taxes....

[tbw2]

7 robots that are replacing farm workers around the world
http://www.businessinsider.com/robots-that-are-replacing-farm-workers-2016-8

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Can you give a for instance?

[corlorde]

bookmark

[x1stcav]

Ten years ago the leftards would argue ‘Do you want to spend ten dollars for a head of lettuce?’.

We probably did through our taxes to subsidize the illegals so they could work cheaply.

I’m willing to bet this holds true today.

[Vince Ferrer]

There are good cow milking robots these days.

[Mariner]

I suspect it will be hard to fill some jobs at $20 per hour. Besides, farmers have an interest in paying by the piece.

Otherwise the job never gets done and food rots in the field.

[central_va]

We need to make hiring illegals a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

[central_va]

automation is a different issue.

[central_va]

Let it rot. It isn’t worth importing Mexicans and other 3rd worlders to harvest it.

[Political Junkie Too]

I thought that America’s Farmers relied on H-2A (seasonal agricultural work) visa workers.

That would make them legal, but not "immigrants," since this is a temporary visa.

-PJ

[tired&retired]

Even the high tech robotic milkers are labor intensive.

Machines can't properly clean the teat, observe for medical problems, sort out antibiotic cows very easily, and they can't allow for kicking cows that constantly kick the milkers off. You also have fetch costs to get the cows in the milkers.

In addition, machines that are around and work with animals constantly break down. When it is milking time and the cows are dropping milk, you can't wait for a machine repair.

Here is an article from the Ag Journal examining the cost benefit of robotic milkers. While an estimated 25,000-30,000 robotic milking systems (RMS) operate worldwide, the U.S. counts about 500 – and the number is growing, said Marcia Endres, professor and Extension Dairy Specialist with the University of Minnesota.

Using the spreadsheet from the Uni­ver­sity of Minnesota, we keyed in two baseline production levels and various milk increases above that. We also looked at how milk price affects annual net financial impacts.

We assumed the following:

288 cows, including milking and dry.

Four robots at $180,000 each.

Total investment of about $750,000 installed

Milking labor savings of 10 hours per day, valued at $15 per hour, including benefits. (that's about $55,000 per year)

The results below do not include facility remodeling costs that might be needed to accommodate cow flow. If substantial facility changes are required, this obviously will increase costs and the breakeven analysis.

Table 1 shows the spreadsheet results based on 75 lb. of milk per cow at the start, as well as the financial impact if milk increases 4, 6 or 8 lb. per cow. Three levels of milk prices are also analyzed.

table 1 dairy

Table 2 shows the spreadsheet results based on 80 lb. of milk per cow at the start, plus the financial impact if milk increases 4, 8 or 12 lb. per cow.

table 2 dairy

Under these scenarios, both milk volume and value are huge drivers of profit and loss. The 75-lb. production baseline struggles to show a positive number until milk production jumps 8 lb. per cow per day and milk price averages $20 per cwt.

In contrast, the 80-lb.-per-cow-per-day baseline shows profitability with just a 4-lb.-per-cow-per-day increase at $20 per cwt milk price or 8-lb.-per-cow-per-day increase at just a $15 per cwt milk price.

We already have the high milk production thus we can't count on any additional revenue. The cost savings to recover $750,000 in labor alone are not justified, especially when you can add in repair costs of $20-$30 K per year.

Milk prices are so low now that many farmers are selling out.

[TomGuy]

Back in the days of GWB’s ‘jobs Americans won’t do’, I posted a link to a Commerce Dept study that proved that to be a lie.

IIRC, some 60% of ag field/processing jobs were held by American citizens, not illegals.

I recall that, when a couple of meat processing facilties were raided and each lost hundreds of illegals, the next day they had hundreds of citizens lined up to apply for those jobs.