South Texas Farmers Working Through a Labor Shortage

Sun drenched fields along the banks of Rio Grande River provide the landscape south Texas farmers need to grow citrus and green leafy vegetables for consumers across the country. But a steady, reliable labor source that is paramount to bringing south Texas commodities to market is in short supply and many growers are worried their crops, and their profits, will be left to wither in the fields. 

Dante Galeazzi, President and CEO, Texas International Produce Association: “We can grow anything we want in South Texas, right? We're only one of three places in all of the United States that can grow fruits and vegetables in the dead of winter.”

Galeazzi is the President and CEO of the Texas International Produce Association, an advocacy organization for foreign and domestic produce operations in Texas. Galeazzi believes farmers struggling to find  crews to work in the farm fields of south Texas is directly related to harvesting the specialty crops particular to this area of the country.

Dante Galeazzi, President and CEO, Texas International Produce Association: “In Texas we grow 60 different fresh fruit vegetable crops. Only six of them can be mechanically harvested. So that means 54 other crops require a hand harvest. Now, we have largely depended on Mexico to provide us with the workers for the last century. Our government has put together a program called H-2a, and that gives foreign workers a visa, which is a permission to temporarily be here in the country.”

The H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program, commonly known as the H-2A Visa Program, provides farmers the ability to bring seasonal agricultural workers from other countries into the U.S. legally for up to one year to plant, perform field work, and harvest crops. 

Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller notes there is an abundance of H-2A guest worker slots available. But it’s the harsh financial penalties for hiring illegal workers which has decreased the number of undocumented individuals entering the United States. 

Commissioner Sid Miller, Texas Department of Agriculture: “We have a guest worker program, a legal migrant worker program, which is what we should have. We had about 78,000 slots. Okay. So we could get 78,000 workers up here to harvest our crops on a temporary basis since then. Now we have almost 400,000 slots, so we've got 400,000 legal migrant workers up here. So that's, you know, that's 300,000 less illegals that we don’t need. 

Overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor, the program helps producers meet their operational needs at critical times during the growing season. However, some growers have discovered navigating the ins and outs of the program can be time consuming and expensive. The agencies who arrange for some work crews also pay thousands of dollars per guest worker between application fees and to day to day expenses. Some farmers see the option of hiring illegal immigrants as a way to save on costs and get the work completed on their farms.

According to data from USDA and the U.S. Department of Labor, between 2020 and 2022, 42% of farm laborers in the United States were undocumented.  

Dante Galeazzi, President and CEO, Texas International Produce Association: “Here in Texas, the equivalent for using that program is somewhere between paying this person $20 to $22 an hour. But if you don't have enough of those folks and that cost continues to increase because of the cost of regulatory compliance, what are the farmers going to do? 

Galeazzi says farmers in south Texas have limited options when they are facing tough production decisions. Choices on what crop to plant can depend on what kind of labor the farmer can afford. 

Dante Galeazzi, President and CEO, Texas International Produce Association: I can grow watermelons and I can grow onions at the same time. And both would help me become profitable. If I don't have enough workers, I have to pick one or the other. And the problem with that is it goes back to that crop mix scenario, right? What if too many people grow watermelons or too many people grow onions and you gambled on the wrong crop? Now you're not making a profit that year. ”

At the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, over 50,000 trucks a month bring products of all kinds from Mexico into the U.S. Twenty thousand of those trucks only carry fresh produce, making this crossing the number one port of entry for produce from Mexico.

Tony Martinez, Primo Trading Services: “The majority of what's at the grocery stores right now is, is, is imports. Because the United States, sadly does not does not, produce enough to sustain itself. That's fact. I feel that's that's a reality that as an industry, we need to do a better job of educating the consumer and letting them know, hey, you know, we do rely on imports.” 

Tony Martinez is vice chairman of the Pharr - Reynosa International Bridge board and a managing member of Primo Trading Services, a fresh produce brokerage. Martinez farms in both the U.S. and Mexico and acknowledges having farms on both sides of the border has provided a way for him to navigate labor issues that impact the region.  

Tony Martinez, Primo Trading Services: “/We're able to shift it to Mexico. And we can we can plant it cheaper over there. And the labor is, is is, although it is difficult in Mexico as well, but it's not as difficult as in the United States”

To help fill the gap in the ongoing labor shortage, south Texas producers, farm advocacy groups, and agricultural officials are looking to Congress and the next Farm Bill to help change the farm labor landscape.

Dante Galeazzi, President and CEO, Texas International Produce Association: “The farm bill is the single biggest investment that the country makes to keep agriculture modern ./ What we're asking for is for the government to invest in building the tools that farmers can then buy to make efficient operations. .”

Commissioner Sid Miller, Texas Department of Agriculture: “First time in my lifetime we have an agriculture trade deficit, and it's going to grow this year from $32 billion to over $45 billion. AG trade deficit. That means we're going to buy $45 billion more food than we export now. We can't sustain ourselves if we're dependent on some foreign power to feed and clothe us That's when we're in jeopardy of losing all of our freedom. So that has to be turned around that that's going to have to be a focus. And that's not going to be easy to win those customers back.”

For Market to Market, I’m John Torpy

contact: Torpy@iowapbs.org