Posted on 07/04/2007 2:28:33 AM PDT by MrPiper
I think this says it all. This is snipped from an article relating to the worker shortage in wheat fields. It should say: Americans refuse to be slave labor!
"Work starts once the morning dew has dried and continues for 16 hours until night moisture makes the wheat too wet. A harvester must be able to work continually while making quick repairs to keep a $300,000 combine in motion.
For that, a worker bunks with crewmates in a mobile trailer for free while seeing the U.S. heartland on net pay of about $1,800 per month. The high-quality, low-cost labor ``keeps costs down and keeps the producer profitable, which keeps the U.S. competitive in the world market.
You sure hit that one square ;)
Just curious, but what is your source for this? My husband and I farm and we can't get reliable labor for $10/hour. There are folks who prefer to remain unemployed over working in the field. That is a fact.
Some of my fondest memories are riding the combine, and milling the corn. I would pay money to go back to that time, in that place. This job will get done. And someone very smart will sell tickets to it like a Dude Ranch.
You can purchase on Ebay a grain presser which obtains oil from soybeans, and yields a high protein cattle feed, and fuel for the combine.
That just needed to be repeated. It is so true.
Welfare reform was rammed down Klintoon's throat, but all that did was move the bums from welfare to disability.
I know several of these cretins -- they have no work history, no resume, and they're in no way disabled. The bottom line is they live large in America with high-speed internet access, Sams Club memberships and trade (used) cars every couple years.
The infuriating thing to me is that though on Medicard, they demand and expect the very best in medical care, including lap-band procedures.
I defecate you not.
This reminds me of a story an old Okie told us here in MD. If I remember it correctly, he worked for a traveling harvesting contractor that was just approaching the next job when they met the wheat farmer waiting for them at the nearest field. The farmer was very impatient because of an approaching storm system. When the contractor pointed out that there was no access to the field because of a fence the farmer jumped into his brand new car and mowed down a couple of fence posts and hollered to the contractor “ there, now get to it!”
“Yes, these are jobs Americans won’t do. Raise it to $10.00/hr and Americans would line up for $4800/month.”
You contradict yourself. There is a difference between, “pay Americans won’t accept” and “jobs Americans won’t do”.
Too many Wal-Marts, fast food chains and retail stores that pay twice that for unskilled labor. Only a fool or an illegal would work for that little when there are much better options.
“Slave labor ONLY need apply!”
Bingo! You nailed that.
We lost our wheat this year because of too much rain; that’s the breaks. I suppose if the eliterati can’t blame it on the immigration bill they’ll blame global warming.
I have never seen illegals running combines, transporting equipment, or performing full time work at the elevators.
BTW over the last few weeks of cutting the winter wheat, there has been more smiles than frowns after dumping at the equity.
But east of us many got hit with hail and extreme cold which devastated any hope of getting square after the last two years.
Just go back to the 40’s and 50’s. Tenant farmers, share croppers, migrant farmers,underpaid mine workers were the norm. They owed the landlord or ‘company’ more money than they made. They were captive and Americans.
That's called debt slavery. All you are demonstrating is that farmers like to use slaves. Americans now refuse it, so the farmers are now using illegal immigrants.
Just extrapolating $1800/month. 16x7=112 hrs/week x4weeks=448hours/month. 1800/448=$4.02/hr.
When I was 16 I worked the wheat harvest in the Texas panhandle. I ran a combine 18 hrs/day. Had to grease it every morning before getting started. I don’t remember for sure but I think I was paid $1.50/ hr. This was in 1959.
By the way, if you will pay me $10/hr cash, I will come work harvest season for you. I’ll bring my own trailer.
The majority of the harvest crews use South Africans (Afrikaners) along with family members. The problem farmers have is not the pay but finding someone to work the hours required to get the crop planted and harvested on time.
The next time we need help I promise that you will be hearing from me. :)
You have a deal, just don’t ask for a social :) I am a US citizen by the way.
Well, when one reads the article closely, there is no mention of Mexicans or illegals operating combines.
The whole issue this article is focusing upon is the lack of H2A visas for customer cutters to bring in young men from Oz, NZ, South Africa, etc.
Thanks to the new CDL regs, I don’t think high school kids can run the trucks requiring Hazmat certs for fuel, etc. Thanks to the idiots in Congress for that wrinkle.
The “comprehensive immigration bill” was set to raise the quotas of ag work visas - that’s what the article is getting at, I think.
I’d work on one of those custom crews, if they could find a way to keep the Mrs. happy. Lots of older guys would have a blast being on a custom crew going up and down the Plains in a custom crew. But there’s this little hitch tho: If the Mrs. ain’t happy, ain’t no one happy. The custom cutters need to figure out a way to keep the wives of older guys happy, then they’d have no trouble finding guys to run combines and grain carts up and down the plains.
With the ethanol boondoggle few acres of wheat, soybeans and just about everything else are being planeted in corn. Out here on the Dakota tundra I hardly see any soybean fields and instead it’s fence row to fence row to with corn. Even some marginal corn ground is being planted with corn just to cash in on the high price. We may end up having to import our wheat.
Use your Government Subsidies to pay them.
Use your Government Subsidies to pay them.
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