UC Food Blog

Will importing workers lead to importing crops?

Rising farm labor costs could shift more U.S. crop production to Mexico

A dwindling and aging agricultural workforce, coupled with higher labor costs, have added pressure on U.S. farms over the past decade. A recent study by University of California agricultural economists Alexandra Hill and James Sayre explores these changing trends in U.S. and Mexican farmworker demographics and the potential implications for U.S. farms.

They found that the incentives to enter the United States under the H-2A visa program for farmwork far outweigh the incentives to immigrate for farm work without proper work authorization. However, because these H-2A workers come at a steep cost to employers, this could mean that several crops with high labor costs may increasingly move production to Mexico in a quest to reduce costs.

Over the last two decades, several trends have led to a shortage of domestic crop workers in the United States. A major contributing factor is that fewer immigrant farm workers are migrating to the United States from Mexico. This trend is generally driven by a declining share of Mexican citizens working in agriculture as the country's economy moves into manufacturing and service industries, coupled with declining birth rates, rising education levels, and increases in U.S. immigration enforcement.

The H-2A program — which provides legal authorization for foreign workers to engage in temporary work on U.S. farms — is the one source of foreign crop labor that is on the rise. Employers are required to pay H-2A workers either the local minimum wage or the local H-2A minimum wage (called the adverse effect wage rate, or AEWR), whichever is higher. The H-2A AEWR is often four to five times higher than the average farmworker wages in Mexico, leading to a substantial wage gap that helps pull Mexican workers into U.S. farm work.

“While the high costs associated with the H-2A program will pull in workers, they may also push farms out of the United States,” said Hill, assistant professor of Cooperative Extension at UC Berkeley.

This is due to the fact high H-2A wages are reducing the profitability of U.S. farms that employ H-2A workers, particularly in states such as California and Washington, which have a greater number of high-labor crops, such as fruits and nuts. Mexico's lower labor costs and suitable climate for fruit and vegetable crops allow the country to have an increasing competitive advantage compared to states like California, which have increasingly high AEWRs.

Mexican production of some of these high-labor crops has increased dramatically over the last two decades: From 2003 to 2022, the value of blueberry production grew 2,600-fold, raspberries grew 140-fold, and strawberries 13-fold. Large increases in exports of these crops from Mexico to the United States have occurred over this same period, confirming that high-labor crops are at a greater risk of losing market share to Mexico.

To learn how the changing demographics of U.S. and Mexican farmworkers could affect U.S. agricultural production, read the full article by Alexandra E. Hill and James E. Sayre: “As Mexican Farmworkers Flock North, Will U.S. Farms Head South?” ARE Update 28(1): 9–12. UC Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics, online at https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1730229662/21163 or in Spanish at https://giannini.ucop.edu/filer/file/1732133779/21191/.

ARE Update is a bimonthly magazine published by the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics to educate policymakers and agribusiness professionals about new research or analysis of important topics in agricultural and resource economics. Articles are written by Giannini Foundation members, including University of California faculty and Cooperative Extension specialists in agricultural and resource economics, and university graduate students. Learn more about the Giannini Foundation and its publications at https://giannini.ucop.edu/.

Desert Organic Research and Food Safety Workshop set for Dec. 4 in Holtville

The "Advances in Southwest Desert Agriculture Research, Organic Production and Food Safety" workshop is scheduled for Dec. 4 in Holtville. This event will showcase cutting-edge research and practical organic farming strategies tailored to California's unique desert environment.

The symposium will feature presentations from University of California Cooperative Extension advisors and other experts.

The agenda covers a range of critical topics, including insect pest management in low desert agriculture, weed management strategies for guayule seedlings, summer cover crops for soil health and disease management, integrated pest management for onion diseases, predicting sugar beet cyst nematode suppressiveness, and microbial risk assessment of soil amendments in organic romaine lettuce.

“These presentations will provide valuable insights into improving desert vegetable production, irrigation efficiency, and food safety practices specific to our region,” said co-organizer Jimmy Nguyen, University of California Cooperative Extension food safety and organic production area advisor for Imperial and Riverside counties.

“This symposium presents an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest research findings directly applicable to Imperial County agriculture, gain practical knowledge to enhance your agricultural practices, and network with fellow professionals and researchers in the field.”

The UC Cooperative Extension team aims to foster the exchange of ideas and promote the advancement of agricultural practices in the community.

“We encourage everyone involved in growing crops in Imperial County to attend this informative event and contribute to the ongoing dialogue on agricultural innovation in the Southwest desert region,” Nguyen said.

The workshop will be held at Barbara Worth Country Club, 2050 Country Club Dr, Holtville, CA 92250. Register at https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=43924.

For more information, please contact UC Cooperative Extension advisors Jimmy Nguyen, cgnguyen@ucanr.edu; Philip Waisen, pwaisen@ucanr.edu; Ali Montazar, amontazar@ucanr.edu; or Oli Bachie, obachie@ucanr.edu; or call (442) 265-7700.

 

CFHL, UC and UCCE Alameda team up with UCSF for Food Farmacy

Green peas, orange carrot cubes and squares of white tofu sizzled as they were stirred into brown rice in an electric frying pan. “Smells good,” commented a man walking to the fresh produce display.

Every week UC San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital in Oakland gives away fresh produce to patients and community members at its Food Farmacy to improve food security in the community. On Nov. 14, nutrition experts from UC Cooperative Extension and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC joined UCSF colleagues to encourage Oakland residents to eat fresh fruits and vegetables for better health.

Tuline Baykal, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC Cooperative Extension program supervisor in Alameda County, and CFHL, UC community educators Mercy Mumba, Yolanda Silva and Mariela Wajler showed visitors how to prepare dishes that could be easily made from fresh produce. Mumba and Wajler cooked tofu fried rice while Silva tossed slices of persimmon, dried cranberries and spinach together before drizzling an orange juice dressing on top. They handed out recipes with samples of the foods.

Alexa Erickson, UCCE nutrition advisor for Alameda and Contra Costa counties, was on site to answer nutrition questions.

Community members could choose from a generous array of free leafy greens, cucumbers, red cabbage, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, citrus, red onions, bell peppers, chicken and other grocery items.

Through their collaboration, the UCSF health professionals and UC ANR nutrition educators hope to highlight the role of food in healthy living and California farms in producing healthy living options.

“A partnership with UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Clinics presents opportunities for us to expand our delivery of CalFresh Healthy Living, UC education to parents in places they are going to receive health care for their children – making this vital nutrition education more accessible,” said Andra Nicoli, CalFresh Healthy Living, UC program and project policy analyst based at UC Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

Nicoli worked with Antonio De Wolk, UCSF's assistant director of content strategy, and Rigoberto Del Toro, manager of the Food Farmacies at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, to coordinate UC ANR's participation in the Food Farmacy.

 

Students design high-tech solutions through Farm Robotics Challenge

Award-winning teams announced at FIRA USA robotics conference

A robot that navigates and weeds row-crop fields – and its design team from Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts – have garnered the grand prize in the second annual Farm Robotics Challenge. Five winning teams, representing various universities and colleges across the U.S., were announced on Oct. 24 during a ceremony at the FIRA USA robotics conference in Woodland (watch recording).

A total of nine teams competed in the Farm Robotics Challenge, organized by University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS), with support from technology partner farm-ng.

During the yearlong contest, the students engaged with growers about their pain points and challenges and then developed creative solutions using the farm-ng Amiga robot platform.

“It's inspiring to see the creativity and dedication of these students, who put in a lot of hard work and long hours to pull together some truly remarkable projects for this competition,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR. “We hope the challenge attracts more students to consider careers in agriculture; we're here to help build a supportive community to grow that pipeline to the workforce.”

Providing a platform for students to demonstrate innovative design, field testing and evaluation, and real-world problem solving, the Farm Robotics Challenge is sponsored by F3 Innovate, Beck's Hybrids, California Tomato Research Institute and the United Soybean Board.

“It's a great day when engineers, marketing and technology folks understand there are great opportunities to create products for American farmers,” said Brad Fruth, director of innovation at Beck's Hybrids. “It has been exciting for Beck's Hybrids to participate in this challenge and see the bleeding edge of where technology and agriculture converge.” 

The student teams leveraged AI, machine learning, automation, coding and fabrication to advance innovation in agriculture.

“Not only does the challenge demonstrate the future of farming with robotics, but it's also encouraging the next generation of engineers to focus their talents on the challenges that exist in growing our food,” said Brendan Dowdle, CEO of farm-ng. “The students who participate have a unique mix of skills in robotics, software and a passion for the future of agriculture.”

Grand Prize Winner: PhoenixBot, Olin College of Engineering, an autonomous mechanical weeding systembuilt to navigate through row-based crop fields of seedling to early-stage crops to effectively remove weeds from the beds

Team Advisor: Kenechukwu Mbanisi

Students:

Summer Crew/Leads: Jeffrey Woodyard, Dokyun Kim, AJ Evans, Toby Mallon, Brooke Moss

Subteam Leads: Dexter Friis-Hecht, Joe Leedy, Maya Adelman, Dominic Salmieri, Chang Jun Park, Akshat Jain

Team Members: Bill Le, Dongim Lee, Felix Halaska, Bhargavi Deshpande, Elisa Camacho, Cooper Penkava, Marcellus Smith, Rohan Bendapudi, Darian Jiminez, Ivy Mahncke, Quinn Verrill, Sam Wisnoski, Oscar Bao, Mia Chevere, Shauna Sperou

Excellence in Productivity: Florabot, Auburn University, a robot designed to autonomously navigate through nursery plant beds collecting imagery data for plant counting and quality assessment

Team Advisor: Tanzeel Rehman

Students: Hamid Syed, Faraz Ahmad, Mesbahul Maruf, Mohtasim Hadi, Carter Freeman

Excellence in Small Farms Technology: Bin Haulers, Washington State University & Heritage University, a precision agricultural robotic system designed for efficient bin-picking and placement in apple orchards

Team Advisors: Manoj Karkee, Safal Kshetri

Students: Dawood Ahmed, Syed Usama Bin Sabir, Divyanth L.G., Priyanka Upadhyaya, Achyut Paudel, Robert Barragan, Apol Medrano, Osmar Alvarez, Bethany Navaroo, Salvador Ayala

Excellence in Sustainability: TAMU-NCSU Robotics Team, Texas A&M University & North Carolina State University, a multi-modal proximal data collection system utilizing artificial intelligence to generate height maps for semi-structured row crop fields to aid in effective application of post-emergence herbicide

Team Advisors: Steven Brian Mirsky, Chris Reberg-Horton, Muthu Bagavathiannan

Students: Joe Johnson, Matthew Kutugata, Ruthvik Kanumuri, Wesley Hawkes, Jonathan Herrera, Luke Conran, Sebastian Chu

Excellence in Safety: University of California Santa Cruz, an application that allows a user to view the camera, as well as operate the Amiga robot, without a physical connection

Team Advisors: Dejan Milutinovic, Darryl Wong

Students: Katherine Rogacheva, Milos Suvakovic, Oliver Fuchs, Sam Leveau, Mauricio Chavez

In addition to recognition for their efforts, the Grand Prize Winner was awarded $10,000, and the Excellence in Productivity and Small Farms Technology winners won $5,000 each, while the Excellence in Sustainability and Safety winners won $2,500 each.

Other competitors in the challenge included teams from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California State University Fresno, Hartnell College and The Pennsylvania State University. 

For more information about the Farm Robotics Challenge, including details on how to participate, visit https://farmroboticschallenge.ai.

Partners unveil first on-farm robotics incubators

Opening in Salinas and Merced in 2025, Reservoir Farms will drive ag innovations in automation robotics

The Reservoir, a nonprofit building tech incubators across California, and partners Western Growers Association, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, Merced College, Hartnell College and venture capital firm HawkTower have announced the creation of the first-ever on-farm robotics incubators, Reservoir Farms.

Unveiled during a press conference at the FIRA USA 2024 robotics conference in Woodland, Reservoir Farms are set to open in the Central and Salinas Valleys in early 2025. This pioneering initiative significantly shifts how agricultural technology innovates through real-world testing environments, world-class resources and critical industry partnerships.

California agriculture faces critical challenges, including labor availability and cost, import competition, increased regulation, water scarcity, and climate-related challenges, including extreme weather. These challenges have spurred significant advancements in agricultural precision, automation, mechanization, and robotics in recent years.

Despite advancements, early-stage agtech projects lack critical ecosystem support, like connecting directly with growers, testing and validating their solutions, and accessing dedicated shop space and farmland. These gaps hinder capital efficiency and the development of critical solutions that meet the agricultural sector's needs.

Initial projects at the incubators will focus on early-stage agricultural innovations in automation and robotics, including rovers and drones, that accelerate the development of breakthrough solutions to the opportunities and imperatives faced by California farms producing high-value specialty crops, such as labor shortages, profitability, and adopting climate-smart technologies.

Western Growers Association, a key advocate for advancing agricultural innovation, will provide financial and operational support as an anchor partner.

Anchor educational partners like UC ANR, Hartnell College, and Merced College will play a crucial role in innovation and workforce development, preparing the next generation of agricultural researchers, professionals, and innovators to drive the future of farming in California.

HawkTower, a venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups developing breakthrough innovations for California's environmental and industrial imperatives, is also an anchor partner.

“The launch of Reservoir Farms is a critical step forward in ensuring the future resilience of California's agriculture and across the Central Coast and Central Valley,” said Danny Bernstein, CEO of the Reservoir and managing partner of HawkTower. “By placing incubators directly on the farm, we enable innovators to test, iterate, and scale solutions in real-world conditions as a more immediate path to advance farming communities.”

A new model to incubate agtech innovation

The idea for Reservoir Farms emerged from extensive industry research and consultations with over 50 organizations in the specialty crop sector. Key insights uncovered critical gaps in startups' access to real-world testing environments, shop space, and direct relationships with growers – factors severely hindered capital efficiency and posed a formidable barrier to innovation.

“Our goal is to eliminate the friction points that have historically slowed down the development of new agtech solutions,” said Walt Duflock, senior vice president of innovation at Western Growers Association. “Reservoir Farms offers a new model, where startups can work side-by-side with growers to test their technologies, iterate in a low-stakes environment, and build scalable solutions to improve agriculture's operations.”

Initiative to support thriving agtech ecosystem and job creation

The Reservoir Farms initiative also reflects a broad-based collaboration between key educational institutions, industry players, and local communities to ensure the next generation of agricultural professionals is equipped with the skills needed to support the region's growing agtech sector.

Supporting partners include Central Coast Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action (COPA), Digital NEST, Farmhand Ventures, Merced County Farm Bureau, Milano Technical Group, Monterey Bay DART (Drone Automation & Robotics Technology), Monterey Bay Economic Partnership, Monterey County Farm Bureau, Tesserakt Ventures, and The VINE.

“As robotics and automation become more integral to California agriculture, it's essential to have facilities like Reservoir Farms embedded within the farming community,” said Gabriel Youtsey, chief innovation officer at UC ANR. “By bridging the gap between lab-based research and real-world application and accelerating tech transfer, Reservoir Farms can help build the workforce and technology needed to address the critical challenges on the farm, from labor shortages to climate change.”

Focus on specialized services and real-world testing in California's agricultural heartland

Reservoir Farms will open its first two locations in Salinas Valley and Merced in the first quarter of 2025. Participants can lease testing fields and shop space without the burden of multi-year leases, giving them the flexibility needed to scale. The incubators will offer fully equipped R&D workshops, secure storage for expensive equipment, and customized, pre-planted specialty crop fields for testing.

These facilities will be complemented by Reservoir Farms' co-working spaces, meeting rooms, and a robust demo day schedule designed to connect startups with growers, investors, and other key stakeholders.

In addition, the Western Growers Association's validation process will provide startups with a quantitative “scorecard” that offers crucial metrics on scalability, efficacy, and financial viability. This validation, combined with UC ANR's field testing, will help startups refine their products and receive a critical stamp of approval that builds trust with growers and ensures a smoother path to commercialization.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Goldston
AgTech PR for the Reservoir
816-260-0040
jennifer@agtechpr.com

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