The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies held a telephone news conference yesterday featuring UC Davis agricultural economist Phil Martin, who has written a paper titled "Farm Labor Shortages: How Real? What Response?" The paper examines workers' wages, farmers' earnings and the prospects of mechanization.
A handful of newspapers reported on the story, including the Sacramento Bee, Central Valley Business Times, and the San Antonio Express-News.
According to the media reports, Martin pointed to three indicators supporting his conclusion that there isn't a farm labor shortage:
- Fruit and vegetable production is rising
- The average earnings of farm workers are not going up extraordinarily fast
- The retail cost of fresh fruits and vegetables hasn't increased
Farmer and labor groups, however, dispute Martin's findings.
The immigration reporter from the Express News, Hernán Rozemberg, reported that the farm lobby was quick to dismiss the report as "flawed" and "superficial."
An immigration reform advocate quoted in the article says: "Dr. Martin's 'analysis' is extremely superficial. His 'study' ignores ... data that clearly point to a severe shortage of legal U.S. agricultural workers and raise troubling public policy questions."