Farmworker Facts

Farmworkers play a vital role in cultivating the food we eat every day. Even though 85 percent of our fruits and vegetables are harvested by hand, farmworkers remain largely invisible.
Agricultural labor includes planting, cultivating, harvesting and preparing crops for market or storage.

Migrant/seasonal: Migrant farmworkers travel from place to place to work in agriculture and move into temporary housing while working; seasonal farmworkers work primarily in agriculture, but live in one community year-round.

Employment: Farmworkers are usually employed by farm owners or by “crew leaders,” who serve as intermediaries between growers and workers.  The H2A program allows foreign “guestworkers” to perform seasonal farmwork under a temporary work visa for agricultural workers in the United States.

Poverty: Nationally, farmworkers’ average annual income is $11,000; for a family it is approximately $16,000. Farmworkers on the East Coast earn about 35 percent less than the national average.

Hard work, low pay: At 40¢ per bucket (5/8 bushel), a farmworker must pick and haul two tons of sweet potatoes to earn $50.

Few wage protections: Most farmworkers are exempt from minimum wage laws, and all are exempt from overtime provisions, despite long work days during peak harvest.

Child labor: As an industry, agriculture is exempt from most child labor laws. Children are allowed to work as paid employees at agricultural operations beginning at age 10. While children make up only a tiny fraction of the agricultural work force, they account for 20 percent of all deaths on the job in agriculture.

Few benefits: Despite pervasive poverty, less than 1 percent of farmworkers collect general assistance welfare nationwide. Only 10 percent of farmworkers report having health insurance through an employer health plan. Fewer than 4 out of 10 workers interviewed said that they would receive unemployment benefits if out of work.

Hunger: Nearly 5 out of 10 North Carolina farmworkers cannot afford enough food for themselves and their families.

Source: Farmworker Advocacy Network (FAN)