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Farm workers few and far between
A Michigan specialty crop farmer says right now his workforce is adequate, but a major labor crisis would put him out of business.
“We have cut back because of shortage of farm workers. There’s plenty of farm jobs—we have plenty of those—but we need willing and able qualified workers to get this job done.”
Previously a civil engineer, Russell Costanza started farming in the early 1980s with just one acre of vegetables. Since then he says his farm has grown into a multimillion dollar family business.
“We would welcome to have all domestic workers, I’ve got a million dollars invested in housing—I wouldn’t need to do that.”
Costanza says as the farm has grown he has relied on a migrant workforce during the season. With less and less workers returning year after year, he says he’s not able to grow as many crops as in the past and has had to invest in the H2A guest worker visa program to have help when he needs it. “A lot of these crops are too yearly yesterday, to late tomorrow, so they have to be harvested timely otherwise they’re quality and value drop drastically.” He says if he doesn’t have enough people at the right time, the farm could go bankrupt.
Costanza currently grows tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant and hot peppers in Southwest Michigan.
Costanza spoke with Brownfield after a meeting of local farmers came together to discuss H2A challenges with Congressman Fred Upton.
AUDIO: Interview with Russell Costanza
Thanks to BrownfieldAg for clear and understandable reporting on the issues. My previous employment was to educate urban folks on agriculture. I continue this work as a volunteer with Foods Resource Bank. Thanks.