UTICA (New York) OBSERVER-DISPATCH

July 22, 2007

How migrant labor helps local farms survive

By ELIZABETH COOPER

Area farmers are struggling to find workers, and some are turning to migrant laborers, many of whom are immigrants.

Farmers say it's necessary to their survival, and farming advocates are pushing for some sort of federal bill that would make it easier for more immigrants to come to the U.S. to work on farms.

There's no way of knowing how many migrant workers there are in Central New York, experts said. Some are legal, others are not. Farmers try to make sure the people they hire have proper papers, but it's not always easy.

Mike Candella Sr., Candella's Farm, Marcy

Mike Candella Sr. has been hiring immigrant labor for about a decade.

He has to, he said.

"It's very simple," he said. "You can't find anyone around here that wants to do any farm work."

Back 20 years ago, local kids would come every summer asking for work, but that hasn't happened recently.

"I haven't seen a kid in six or eight years," he said. American-born young people are instead choosing from the many service industry jobs that have popped up in recent years, he said.

Now he hires migrants, many of whom are from Mexico, Guatemala and other South American countries, full time for his season, which lasts from Palm Sunday through Christmas.

Some come back year after year, and he's built relationships with them, pays them a fair wage and has been very happy with their work. They are willing to work seasonally, and will put in the long hours required, he said.

Candella always makes sure they have proper documentation, but says the government should make it possible for more laborers to come.

"If you take every one of those people (in Congress who oppose such immigration reform) and put them on a farm for one day and let them see what it is that these people do and ask them to find someone here in this country that'll do this type of work, you're not going to find it," he said. "If they don't (do something), we're going to get all our food from China."

Diego Garcia, Worker, Candella's Farm

Diego Garcia has been working for Candella's Farm for about 10 years.

He says he likes Candella's because "it's good people."

His English careful, if a little broken, Garcia explained he had left his native Guatemala because ongoing guerilla warfare had made it hard to find work. He said he wishes he could have stayed with them, but at least now he can send them some money to help them live better.

Farming is in Garcia's blood, since his father worked as a picker back in Guatemala. Candella said he couldn't be happier with Garcia, and has raised his pay as he gained experience and skills.

And, Candella said, Garcia tries hard with his English.

"He's always willing to learn," Candella said. "Every time he hears a word he doesn't know, he asks you to spell it, writes it on his hand and goes home at night and looks it up."

Garcia has a work permit and is trying to get a green card, though he says the process is difficult and confusing.

Troy Bishopp Bishopp Farms, Deansboro

Troy Bishopp doesn't have to hire migrant laborers, because he has family members who are willing to work on his farm and his operation isn't that big.

He knows he's one of the lucky ones, though. In other farm families, the next generation doesn't want to work the land anymore, and other young people aren't looking to the farms for employment either.

"Farm work is hard work," he said. "If you're working at McDonald's and you make the same there as you would at the farm, which would you rather do in this day and age?"

Bishopp said he knows other farmers who hire migrants and understands why they do it, even though he's not standing precisely in their shoes.

"Farmers need to stay in business and be efficient and profitable and immigrant labor I guess is necessary," he said.

Julie Suarez, Director of Public Policy, New York Farm Bureau

Julie Suarez, whose organization advocates for the rights of farmers, called the failure to have a bill that enabled immigrant farmworkers to come to the U.S. "a lack of leadership on the part of our national politicians."

Though local congressional representatives and New York's two U.S. senators are understanding, she believes there is a broad misunderstanding of the immigration issue in other parts of the country.

The stalemate in Congress over immigration has put area farmers in a difficult spot, she said. Forged documents are virtually indistinguishable from real ones, except by experts, she said, so farmers can't be expected to accurately judge them.

At present, conflicting laws make it so a farmer isn't allowed to fire an employee if the Social Security number they provide is found not to match their identity, but is also liable if they employ illegal aliens, she said.

"No one wants to employ an illegal worker, but its very difficult to know whether an employee is here legally and when illegally," she said.

Meanwhile farmers need people to work.

"With the demographics of upstate, where people are leaving, without an immigrant workforce, we just don't have the workers here," she said. "Our big concern is that you will see farms close in New York state for lack of workers, and instead of safe local food supplies we will be relying on places like China."

U.S. Rep. Michael Arcuri, D-Utica

When the U.S. Senate's immigration bill failed this spring, advocates for farmers, and politicians who represent rural areas, turned their sights on the upcoming Farm Bill. That bill is now in committee, but a provision that would have enabled more immigrant farm workers to enter the country probably won't be there when it emerges, Arcuri said.

His 24th District includes areas with dairy farms and specialty crops like wine grapes and apples. In both cases, more workers are needed, Arcuri said.

"When you go to the orchards and talk to folks, that's all the agricultural people talk about is that aspect of it," he said. "It's incredibly important to the people in our district."

In the wine-producing communities, if the farms fail, so will the budding tourism industry centered on the vineyards, he added.

That's why he is supporting a stand-alone version of the agriculture jobs provision, which would create a guest worker program specifically geared toward farm workers.