APB agenda 112205 - Laserfiche WebLink

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But times have chanced. I..ocaI residents a.ren t as eager to take farm jobs as they once were, and southern workers have found work back home. Still, farms are getting larger and farm- ers' demand for labor keeps growing. "My dairy farm employs two full -time milk- ers. When I was a kid, my dad managed with my mom, my sister and me." "Since we bought that vegetable farm down the road, we can't handle the work load ourselves. Every summer I have to bring in crews from out-of-state." Mexican - Americans, Mexicans, Guatemalans, and others from Central America .now supply an increasing amount of the labor to New York family Workers from other states fr. ie.n.d.s/ neighbors migrant workers local from o ther ent5 residents countries f Cie fig t k:. :,. farms. And they are changing the social envi- ronment in many rural communities. These im- migrants, legal and illegal alike, work and usu- ally live on local. farms. They shop in town and send. their children to local schools. Some stay in the state year round and others come for the harvest season only. They bring their language, their customs, and their own group cohesion. Both new and long -tine residents Ynay have t:a•cauble adjusting. For some, the look and feel of the community are no longer familiar. They may be suspicious of "foreigners." They Ilaay worry about the impact on property values, on educational quality, on crime rates, on the de- mand for social services. "All these Ilispanics in the stores and wander- ing around town. They don't speak English.; they look scruffy; their camps are an eyesore." "Who's going to pay for that new rni_grant health clinic? I ,sure can't afford higher taxes." Likewise, farmworkers may not feel welcome in local communities. They, too, may have trouble adjusting, The culture, the language, the laws, the surroundings. All nexlr, all different. "I just want to buy some food. Why is every- one staring at me?" "I work hard for my money. And I save a lot, too. My family in Mexico depends on me." Neer York agriculture needs workers to keep production going. And with local labor in short supply, farmers will continue to look beyond the state's borders for help.