Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has indicated his willingness to resume the use of probationer labor on Georgia farms this fall. The need for farm labor is the result of a May immigration bill that sought to severely curtail illegal immigration in Georgia.

Georgia’s immigration legislation sought to mandate the use of E-Verify, an electronic residency verification system, and punished employers who evaded or ignored the law by hiring illegals.

The immigration bill resulted in a sharp decline in farm labor in the state. According to opponents of the bill, migrant laborers, both legal and illegal, left Georgia as a result of the strict legislation, an exodus which created a void of more than 10,000 jobs. These lost jobs are estimated to have cost the state more than $300 million since the law went into effect.

Earlier in the summer, Governor Deal and the state’s Department of Agriculture sought to address the loss of jobs by using probationer labor, claiming that giving jobs to former convicts on probation allowed them to develop valuable skills and while filling needed jobs. Despite these hopes, many probationers left their farm jobs after only a few days, citing backbreaking work and hot weather.

Georgia agricultural officials hope that the program will pick up more in the fall, when the weather changes, than it was last summer.

To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.   

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer

Georgia farms are still reeling in the wake of the state’s tough new immigration bill. Passed last month, Georgia’s new immigration law is one of the toughest in the country, providing stiff punishments for employees who hire illegal immigrants and allowing law enforcement to verify the legal residency of suspects they encounter.

Earlier in the month, an informal survey of Georgia farms, directed by Governor Nathan Deal, revealed over 11,000 farm labor vacancies, most caused by the departure of farm laborers, both illegal and legal, in response to the new immigration bill. The worker’s flight has so far cost Georgia farms over $300 million in lost revenues and could reach over $1 billion if the loss of labor is not stopped. The President of the Georgia Agribusiness Council warned that without the necessary labor, crops will rot in the fields and loss of revenue will spiral out of control, costing everyone in the state.

Earlier in the month, Governor Deal proposed a new system of farm labor, relying in prison probationers and Georgia convicts to fill the 11,000 new farm vacancies. Officials were optimistic that the state’s 100,000 probationers, many of whom have difficulty finding work, would leap at the opportunity. However, the results of this new system have been poor so far. Dick Minor, the President of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association and owner of a Georgia farm, reports that many probationers quit after a single day of work, with many leaving after thirty minutes. Those that stayed were not as efficient as many of the Mexican and Guatemalan workers Minor typically employs.

With as much as two-thirds of probationer labor not returning to work, many farmers are pessimistic about the future of this program. Without dependable farm labor, farms cannot function. In addition, some Georgia officials, like former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, have pointed out the distasteful historical implications of using convicts for manual labor.

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal received the results of a farm labor survey earlier this week. The survey was prompted by fears of an agricultural labor shortfall which could result from a new immigration bill passed last month. The bill targets illegal immigrants, allowing law enforcement to check the immigration status of individuals without identification as well as penalizing use of fraudulent identity documents with felony charges.

Farmers were worried that enforcement of this bill would not only put many farmers at risk of serious penalties, but could also jeopardize one of Georgia’s most valuable industries. While the bill has not yet gone into effect (it will on July 1), many farmers have already reported a drop in available labor, a drop they blame on the tough immigration bill. Some farms report operating at about 30% efficiency, and some estimate that the state could lose up to $300 million in agricultural revenue.

While the results of the survey have not yet been released, Georgia officials are claiming that it is too early to fully evaluate the cost of the immigration bill. Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler stated that one growing season is too small a time period to properly weight the impact of the bill and that by next year farmers may have gotten used to hiring legal employees, causing the crisis to fade. Governor Deal’s office has announced that it will release the results of the survey sometime next week.

To learn more about agricultural financing opportunities contact a Farm Plus Financial representative by calling 866-929-5585 or by visiting www.farmplusfinancial.com.   

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Written by: Justin Ellison / Farm Plus Staff Writer