Orchards and vineyards get you temporarily back to the land; so do the mid-western wheat or corn fields that stretch to the horizon, ready for the (mechanized) harvest. The Kansas hay, to be transformed into compact bundles, shimmers under the sun. In Oregon, asparagus fields meanwhile await the arrival of the cutting crews, and California's avocados and artichokes also require some farm labor. Man (and woman) power is needed on Wisconsin's large dairy farms, in Hawaii's pineapple fields, for the varied Florida vegetable crops. In the South, strawberries, lettuce, and celery are still picked by hand.
Opportunity awaits any healthy male or female to help out in many parts of North America. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the farm-worker count stands at almost 3 million per year. During a typical summer month, some 1,800,000 seasonal workers are employed. Moreover, in recent years, farm labor has become younger, with more people under the age of twenty-four and fewer blacks. Black field workers, the Spanish, and other minorities only make up about one-fourth of the farm labor force.
Keep in mind that sophisticated new machines are being invented every day, taking the place of human beings. Already, a large percentage of the tomatoes, peas, and other crops can be handled by mechanical harvesters. The impact of mechanization can be told in figures. During the early fifties it still took 4,000 farm-workers to gather potatoes in one Oregon county; last season, only twenty hands did the job. (On the other hand, more sorters are now needed.) And the tomato harvester has replaced at least 30,000 California hands. Electronic sorting is also common.
It should also be said that certain U.S. jobs require experience; a few employers want dependable, year-round people instead of seasonal workers. And many harvests are brought in year after year by migrant labor which moves from state to state. The majority consists of Spanish-speaking Americans as well as Mexicans who know little English. In some sections of the U.S., plenty of Anglos join the migrant braceros.
The Migrant Story
Spanish labor has a hard row to hoe. There is still much exploitation of the Mexican migrant and his family. Many American employers allow only substandard living for these transients; some live in vacated chicken coops, or in one shabby room for a family of five, without indoor toilet facilities, just outdoor privies.
Many of the victims work far away from our urban areas, so no one comes to inspect their hovels or their meager food supplies. One Colorado migrant family of four, for example, had to live for a full week on 15 pounds of pinto beans; despite their agonizing work in the beet fields, they were so poor that they couldn't afford meat, fish, fowl, or milk for their children. Mexican wetbacks also get ripped off by their own crew leaders who keep most of the money and dole out only pennies to these unfortunates.
Migrant workers follow several major travel patterns. Because harvest labor needs often overlap, the routes vary, but usually by not more than 50 to 100 miles. Much of the annual migrant movement originates in Texas during the early spring. The two peak harvest periods are May-June and October-November. After finishing the winter harvests, workers start weeding.
The "Central Stream," which covers the mid-western states, involves the most workers from southern Texas; some Hispanos move into Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. The first crop may be spring lettuce, but most of the labor is harvesting beans and tomatoes. Other field workers head into the Mississippi Valley through Arkansas, southeastern Missouri, and into Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and across Indiana en route to Michigan. Most of the early spring work consists of thinning and hoeing the crops, which include sugar beets. Arkansas's major crop is broom corn; Wisconsin has a tomato harvest; Michigan grows corn and broccoli. Other agricultural workers make their way through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, western Iowa, and Minnesota. This group starts in May or early summer, eventually helping bring in wheat and small-grain harvests.
The "Atlantic Coast Stream," as the name suggests, flows along the eastern seaboard. Starting in late March migrants move north from Florida and Georgia, into the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. In mid-May, South Carolina's tomatoes must be picked, followed in June by Maryland's. By midseason, most of the states are harvesting tomatoes. By late summer, New Jersey farms gather onions, green beans, asparagus, and blueberries. Most workers will not go as far as Maine, which draws Canadian migrants for the potato harvest.
Intrastate migrant workers concentrate on Texas. The majority are Spanish-Americans who have lived in the States for generations. Others are Mexicans who cross the borders into Texas. They will travel from farm to farm and county to county, and then return home to Mexico. Experts predict that you may have to compete less against illegal border crossers in future years. Reason: tougher immigration laws and border control policies.
Field Work: Pros and Cons
Many people love the soil, especially on a temporary basis. The smell of the freshly tilled land, the scents of some plants, the pure air can elate you. You're back at the source of civilization. The work itself, though often backbreaking and exhausting, ultimately gives fresh strength and cleanses you. If you do it for just a few weeks-on a long vacation or in between studies-you'll get all kinds of physical and emotional benefits. Some young people delay college for a while and try farming instead.
It is true that a farm laborer won't get rich. Pete Packett, one southern expert, puts it this way: "Many persons consider this kind of work as a 'last resort.' It's a solution for those who do not have the skills necessary to qualify for better jobs, higher pay and better working conditions. It has been said of these people that they are not poor because they are seasonal workers; they are seasonal workers because they were already poor."
At the same time, even if you're paid only the most minimal wages, you actually serve an apprenticeship on the land. Consider it a step toward a farm future. Maybe you can make money in other occupations for a year or two before renting a small farm of your own. Other workers gain enough experience in the fields to join a commune and so live a little better, and in good company.
For the majority of Anglo (non-Spanish) farm laborers-and of course, for the unionized-conditions around the U.S. are gradually improving. Many workers are now under workmen's compensation. Employers must make toilet facilities available in the fields. The minimum wage will slowly go up, as it has for the past years. And as fewer and fewer North Americans actually want to work physically, there will be more and more jobs available.
A yearly agricultural survey indicates that Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, and Ohio will offer the best chances during the late seventies or early eighties.
Some Oregon harvest jobs like raspberry picking may open up so suddenly that the Job Service can't find enough labor to pluck the overripe fruit. In Michigan, large farms are chronically hard up for experienced, dependable dairy workers. (Read the S.O.S. ads in the Michigan Farmer Magazine.)
Florida uses proportionally more hired farm labor than any states except California and Texas, and generally, both hourly and piecework wage rates are higher in Florida than other southern states.
The best jobs in farming, from the employee's standpoint, probably can be found in dairying or as qualified equipment operators.
How about the negative aspects? Field work can be dangerous because growers often use noxious defoliants and other chemicals.
So far, pay scales are low. And field work is often monotonous. Although good to your psyche, some farming country may be plain dull or too hot.
Western Nebraska, for instance, presents a never-ending perspective of telephone poles, hay fields, wheat, corn. No other car for twenty minutes. No farm in sight. You keep thinking of the pioneers as they crossed this dry country, and the hardships they endured. Mark Twain, who traveled the same land, wrote of it: "A deep, still, lifeless houseless solitude." Near Julesburg, Colorado, Twain noticed the South Platte River, which he called "a melancholy stream straggling through the enormous flat plain." Years later, Louis Bromfield spoke of "a vast and monotonous landscape."
In winter, there are ground blizzards and winds; summers are plagued by droughts. The July heat is incredible; inside your car, the temperature must be twenty degrees hotter. One hundred and twenty? "You should have air conditioning," a motorist's companion says. "Everyone out here has it." Outside, the sun beats without mercy on the fields-the sun reflects from the metal of a silo. A small farmhouse seeks the shade of two trees. A farmer sits on a stopped tractor; it is topped by an umbrella. Another shade seeker.
You see combines on trucks. A grain elevator and a weighing station, flash by. A small community; you automatically slow down for new sights. A farm equipment store where two plows hold court.
Life is slower here, with more time on your hands; you won't get mugged in such country, or risk lung cancer as you do in the big cities. But all in all, country life is less stimulating-and harder too.
Getting the Jobs
Farmwork is easy to find around harvest time if you know how and where to look. Begin in spring. Start with a visit to the nearest library and ask them to show you the year's U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook Usual Planning and Harvesting Dates. Check with the Job Service or State Employment Office in your chosen area. The counselors are courteous: they will give you some information over the telephone, and you may also get some answers by mail. Shortly before the start of the harvest season, call up the State Farm Labor Bureau. This office or a similar one with a different name can be found in the state listings of your telephone directory, usually under the state employment department. If that doesn't help, look in the county listings for the extension service or agricultural agent and call that number.
A California field worker with supervisory experience might call on the nonprofit employment service of the Growers Harvesting Committee, Ceres, CA 95307. This group places experienced farm-workers who can direct a pruning, irrigation, or laboring crew.
The Mini-Farmer
During the past decades, farms have gotten larger-the national average is now around 300 acres-and good land has become much more expensive. The price of machinery makes ownership of a large farm nearly impossible for the average individual. Fuel, taxes, and feed for livestock become more expensive each year. Who can afford a five-figure sum for a combine? Or $ 1,500 to seed 13 acres of onions? Note that agricultural income hasn't kept pace with expenses and that 10 percent of the nation's farms produce 90 percent of our food.
Few young people are lucky enough to inherit a profitable farm or to rate a loan for one. Nor can they persuade a large company to back them financially.
Some other options remain, though.
You could become a mini-farmer.
You could, for instance, lease someone else's productive homestead and run it. Or you could be the "caretaker" of another person's farm. You can also do part-time farming; that is, you grow some vegetables (or fruit) for sale, in addition to holding down a part-time job in the nearest community.
Lastly, you could specialize in a few (rare) products that fetch good prices; depending on location and climate, some individuals manage to make a living with crops of bean sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, rare cabbages, Chinese chard, bokchoy, or certain herbs. Beehives, easily multiplying berry patches, and mushroom houses can add to such income.
The mini-farmer usually chooses this life style for other than financial rewards. You'll find a lot of farm companions who are basically idealists; they're working the soil because they couldn't stand the rat race in the cities.
Do Some Preliminary Research
Before you seriously consider one of the just-mentioned possibilities in detail, you should do some serious research. Any mistake could be costly, especially if your savings account is a small one.
Many would-be mini-farmers move from the city to the country on the spur of the moment. Make a pilot trip first. Talk to some other folks who have made the move. Visit a couple who rented a farm or runs one for an absentee owner. Get into your car to see a young family who eke out a share of their livelihood from produce or berries. Call up a man who now owns enough beehives. Did he get a farm loan to build his honey business? If so, what were the loan arrangements?
How do you get the names of these back-to-the-landers?
One way: Take a brief "farm vacation." Certain farmers in your area will accept guests who then have the run of the farm. Such farmers will know what goes on in the particular rural area and who does what. The names of hundreds of such vacations are listed in Country Vacations USA, published by Farm, Ranch & Adventure Guides, New York. (No need to buy this book; most libraries will have a copy.)
Second, read the back-to-the-land magazines with care. Most of them run letter columns complete with the addresses of farm people. You'll discover that such individuals, couples, or families will be hospitable; they'll gladly fill you in on how they did it, and if the mini-farm pays off. Here are several magazines available at most libraries:
Mother Earth News
Box 70, Hendersonville, NC, 28739
(rather expensive to subscribe
but valuable letter columns) Countryside
312 Portland Rd., Waterloo, WI 53594
(less costly and nicely up to date) Farming Uncle
Old Monticello Rd., Liberty, NY 12754
(somewhat primitive printing, but reasonable subscription rate)
You'll get excellent small-farm information from the nearest Agriculture Extension Agent, State Farm Bureau, Small Business Administration Bureau (no cost at any of these offices). Small-town bankers in rural areas know a great deal about local conditions. And the U.S. Government Printing Office offers all kinds of practical material on the topic.
