A new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis shows that area farms are having increasing trouble finding and hiring the labor needed to operate them. Photo courtesy of the Farmworker Association of Florida
Dec. 29 (UPI) — A new analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis shows that area farms are having increasing trouble finding and hiring the labor needed to operate them.
The Minneapolis Fedwhich is one of the nation's 12 Federal Reserve Banks, attributed the challenge in a report this month to a low influx of immigrant workers to the region and an aging workforce.
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The bank covers the Ninth District, which consists of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, 26 counties in northwestern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
The report found that 39% of respondents to a survey said labor availability has gotten “much worse” over the past five years, and 44% said it is “a little worse.”
The Minneapolis Fed report also showed an estimated 10% share of foreign workers in livestock production in 2021, compared to 18% nationally.
“The disparity is even more stark for crop production. Just 5% of farm labor in the Ninth District is foreign-born (the highest in 10 years), compared to 32% nationally,” it said.
According to census data, the median age of farm workers in provincial states rose to 56 in 2021 from 51 in 2012. In the rest of the country it rose to 48 from 47 over the same period.
