Government helps farmers find workers
 

State Agricultural Recruitment System Helps Ag Employers Find Seasonal Labor
Program aims to remove barriers and help farmers locate skilled workers



LANSING – The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) and the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) for the State of Michigan are partnering to promote the Agricultural Recruitment System (ARS), designed to help agricultural employers find interested and available workers including migrant and seasonal labor. Through ARS, Agricultural Employment Specialists with the WDA help locate and refer workers to meet the labor needs of Michigan’s agricultural employers.



“The goal of this program is to remove some of the red tape, making it easier for farmers to locate and hire migrant and seasonal workers and get their products into the marketplace,” said Belen Ledezma, Director of Migrant, Immigrant and Seasonal Worker Services for WDA. “ARS is a valuable tool for helping Michigan’s agricultural employers find the workers they need, and I encourage those who haven’t used it before to take advantage of the opportunity.”



ARS offers three types of assistance to help employers find workers within the United States. These include:

Local Job Order: used to find workers within 65 miles of the job site.
Intra-State Clearance Order: used to find workers within Michigan.
Inter-State Clearance Order: used to bring in workers from other states.


Intra- and Inter-State Clearance Orders require the employer to provide no-cost migrant housing licensed by MDARD. Employers using the ARS must also comply with applicable federal and state laws on wage rates, health and safety compliance.



“MDARD works hard to ensure Michigan’s seasonal and migrant workers have access to good living conditions through our migrant housing inspection program,” said Mark Swartz, MDARD Resources Conversation/Migrant Labor Section Manager. “There are 4,400 migrant housing units in Michigan and we inspect them all on an annual basis.”



Job orders can be canceled without cost to the employer up to 10 days prior to the date of employment. If the order is not canceled within the 10 days, and the employer fails to notice the out of area workers, the employer will be required to pay one week of wages. This requirement can be waived due to weather conditions or natural disasters. Agricultural Employment Specialists can help write a job description to minimize employment risks associated with crop loss, crop damage, and late or early harvest conditions.



“One common misconception is that employers need to pay for workers’ travel when using this type of employment assistance, but that is not the case.” said Ledezma. “Covering some travel costs may help entice a worker to travel in order to work for you, but it is not a requirement for participating in the program.”


To receive assistance in finding workers, employers should contact the Agricultural Employment Specialist (AES) stationed at Michigan Works! One Stop Service Centers in Adrian, Bay City, Dowagiac, Fremont, Holland, Ionia, Lapeer, Ludington, Paw Paw, Shelby, Sparta, and Traverse City.



“The local AES will help draft a detailed position description and job posting information tailored to meet specific employers’ needs,” said Ledezma. “A well-crafted description helps the staff provide employers with quality referrals.”



The AES will first refer available and interested local workers who meet the qualifications on the posting. If no local workers are available, the AES will use the ARS system to locate workers from other areas within the state, as well as workers from other states utilizing One Stop Offices throughout Michigan and around the country. By working cooperatively with One Stops in other states, Michigan is better able to meet the workforce needs of its agricultural employers.



Michigan’s 17 AES serve an estimated 14,000 migrant and seasonal farmworkers each year. In the past, state AES have traveled to Texas to promote Michigan’s agricultural industry, and have successfully attracted workers to Michigan to help ease labor shortages within the state.



Agricultural employers wanting to learn more about ARS or to arrange for help from a Michigan AES are encouraged to visit www.michaglabor.org, or contact their local Michigan Works! Agency office.

I wonder why they dont just send the farmers down to the local unemployment office? Its my understanding that there are plenty of unemployed folks looking for work all over the country. :shrug:

I wouldn't let the government get a foot (further) in the door of my business. This could get complicated for the employer in a hurry.

Most of them have no clue about how to do farm work

Thats true, but they can learn, and they are a lot of fun to watch in the meantime. ;)

Ask me how I know this... :)

there is no local unemployment office anymore
everything is done over the phone

Not to mention, Americans want too much money, and let's face it... farming is hard, dirty work. Nobody would willingly do it if they could just get paid to sit home. Sheesh!

Farmers don't want someone they have to TRAIN.
They want someone who KNOWS what to do

When a crop is ready, you often only have a few days to harvest or lose it all

Yep when a crop is ready its ready.... but most farm labor doesnt require a college degree or a six month training program. A minutes worth of "put those bales of hay on that wagon" catches it. How much training is required for picking fruit or veggies? or hoeing weeds? cleaning brush out of fence rows?

Yep, farming is work. I would think most anyone needing work would jump at the chance if they werent being paid not to work. That was my point to begin with. If those folks drawing unemployment refuse to do honest work then they should lose their checks.

And most WITH a college degree won't take the job.

Around here a lot of the "farm labor" involves operating combines, cotton pickers and huge tractors costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each.

It's not the sort of thing you spend 5 minutes learning to operate, and all the jobs aren't simple manual labor anymore.

So you think they should be forced to take ANY job at all, no matter what their age, skills or abilities?

If someone wont take a job.... why should they be drawing unemployment? And no I dont think anyone should be forced to take any job.... but if they are physically and mentally capable of completing the tasks of a job thats offered, and refuse to work... then I think they should be disqualified for unemployment benefits.

I'm to the point where I'm considering hiring a few. It's more wrk for me to try get someone to do half of what I do. I'm have finally found a couple guys that can run the wood splitter an be productive but that was a long search. Still have yet to find someone to run loader making top soil. An the biggest hardest job I have is drive my dtruck from point a to point b an back to point a. If I had a farm I would have giving up by now. I defintly think they should be unemployed should be wrking but not being forced to wrk for me. Alot are culled from work force for one reason or another. There is a difference between people who wanna wrk when it's what they choose than a person that wants to wrk an does what ever it that the job entails.

I read that in a few places in the South farmers are going to make smaller crops, the reason being the ILLEGALS are FINALLY getting out of Dodge.
Some may even switch to a easier crop to handle themselves as farm workers become scarce. And this program just might help those out a lot by matching them with workers that are willing to work on a farm.

Most 24-25 yearolds arent physically or mentally able to do farm related work especially if they have a collage degree. I wish sometimes it was like on south park where I could go down to the front of home depot n hire a bunch wrkers.

Pssst... I'm 40something, and some days I'm not sure if I'm physically or mentally able to do it either ;) Unfortunately, just starting out, I can't afford to hire anybody to do it for me.

I already know farmers in Michigan who have been forced to do this because they can't find enough reliable workers for labor-intensive crops.

I'd like to think this new program will help them, but I'm a bit skeptical as to government's ability to do anything useful!

The physical conditioning needed to do hard work, day in and day out, sometimes under extreme weather conditions, isn't acquired overnight. I know a few farmers who have simply given up hiring Americans because they can't run their operation with workers who only show up for a day or two. As BFF pointed out, when the crop is ready to be picked (or the cows need to be milked) farmers need to have reliable people who can do the job.

Picking crops isn't quite as easy as some people think.
You have to be physically able to do the work.
You have to know what to pick and what not to pick.
Years ago I did a little of it until I found something better.
I got paid according to the amount I picked.
If I didn't do a good job my pay showed it.

Not a lot of people will work for what they are worth.

Years ago we would Contract out until Illegal mexicans came in and undercut us on the Contracts.Which is probably what is going on here.

But this was in the South.

big rockpile

Yh-this program will increase the "need" for govermental workers- thus even if no farm workers show up or if no farmer use the agency employment will not decrease. Taxpayers keeping jobs afloat!!!

Picking produce is a job in Western New York shared by local 12year olds who have gotten workpapers and most 12 lack a HS cert or college cert. The local minor work along side with the migrant workers. When I did this work it took more time walking to my assigned spot than it did to learn what was needed to do the job. Yes, it was long days and all breaks where of my choosing but each one cut the amount of work I could do which inturn effected the number of punches my punch card would get in a day.
Slackers were quickly asked not to return. Honestly I never saw a migrant worker get ask not to come to the fields then next day due to poor work. I did see local kids get turned a way.

Yep, picking crops is work, and lots of it. However its not really that difficult to learn... kids seem to be able to pick up on it, as well as people from foreign lands who are used to working for their pay. Your last line is a bit intriguing to me.... If people are not willing to work for what they are worth... why should anyone feel obligated to feed, clothe, and house them? :shrug:

So what is so different about the migrant worker... or should I say special... other than possibly they have a bit more incentive to show up and do good work. Little things like knowing their kids go hungry if they slack off.

I suspect migrants accustomed to doing physical labor are less likely to be sedentary and overweight than the average American.

I know I dropped 20 lbs. in the year after I went from being an editor to a dairy farm worker!

Yep, but you got in shape, and probably by doing the work required. Its a bit rough the first week or so for sure, but a healthy body adjusts pretty quickly when pushed a bit. I dont recall hearing too many stories about folks who got in shape by sitting on the couch watching tv though. :)

The migrant worker had a NEED to work--the other half of the crew was made up of local kids earning spending money or tagging along with a friend. Once a money goal was met some kids slacked off --some never returned after Friday when the punch cards filled became cash.

Let's imagine for a minute that there was not a government agency to find workers for farmers.

What would farmers do?

Maybe raise wages to attract people, like other businesses? And pass those costs onto the consumer like other businesses?

What is so special about farming that it requires neverending government support?

Farming is not the only business requiring hard work.

I was just thinking of how I went to the wedding reception for my niece at the house of her new FIL. She married the son of a farmer who uses migrant workers which get many government benefits.

The farmer's mansion was impressive.

Seemed to me the farmer should have been able to pay for more benefits, without having to stick it to the taxpayers.

Pondering further, it is amazing how little farmers are able to do without government help.

They have to get a gov't loan to get started.
They need an extension agent to tell them what to do.
They need gov't market reports to tell them prices.
They need price subsidies.
They need gov't to find markets for their products.
In my state, the gov't made the irrigation system to provide cheap water.
Gov't provides labor or provides benefits for the labor.
Gov't does inspections on products.
Gov't wants to do animal tracking.
Gov't does ag surveys.
And if you're tired of farming, gov't will pay you to not do it.

You could always protest by boycotting all products that come from farms.

Not really alot I knew would be considered obese but worked regular,it was more their diet.

But I know when I was doing it I weighed 145 pounds,5' 10".

big rockpile

You saying Kegals don't count? :hrm:

True, but to get in shape, you have to keep going back, and my farmer friends back home used to complain that most Americans would only show up once. Some would only make it until lunchtime. Incidentally, I'd probably be in that group ... I have never been able to take much direct sun; it makes me sicker than a dog. It's not the heat, but something about the sunlight itself. As long as I'm in the milking parlor I'm OK, but field work? Not this girl! :)

The majority of people out of work will make more setting at home than picking crops. They can get paid to set at home or get paid by the amount of work they do.
Most choose to set at home and get paid.