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Potential Impacts of a Pandemic on the US Farm Labor Market

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  • Diane Charlton
  • Marcelo Castillo

Abstract

An outbreak of COVID‐19 among farmworkers could have significant impacts on the workers, agricultural producers, and the consumers. Farmers are implementing new labor management practices to slow the spread of the virus among workers. Since immigration is temporarily restricted, farmers may have difficulty securing a sufficient workforce. We test whether changes in the unemployment rate affected H‐2A guest worker demand before the pandemic and find a statistically significant negative impact. Nevertheless, we expect that H‐2A recruitment will be vital to sustaining agricultural production. We conclude by discussing potential long‐term impacts of the pandemic on farm labor supply and demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Diane Charlton & Marcelo Castillo, 2021. "Potential Impacts of a Pandemic on the US Farm Labor Market," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 39-57, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:43:y:2021:i:1:p:39-57
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13105
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    3. James Lowenberg‐DeBoer & Karl Behrendt & Melf‐Hinrich Ehlers & Carl Dillon & Andreas Gabriel & Iona Yuelu Huang & Ian Kumwenda & Tyler Mark & Andreas Meyer‐Aurich & Gabor Milics & Kehinde Oluseyi Olag, 2022. "Lessons to be learned in adoption of autonomous equipment for field crops," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 848-864, June.
    4. Wang, Sun Ling & Loduca, Natalie, 2023. "The changing values of the U.S. farm workers’ legal status and labor quality in the U.S. farm workforce," 2024 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2024, San Antonio, Texas 339078, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Ana Esteso & M. M. E. Alemany & Fernando Ottati & Ángel Ortiz, 2023. "System dynamics model for improving the robustness of a fresh agri-food supply chain to disruptions," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 1-53, June.
    6. Yifan Zhong & Yameng Li & Jian Ding & Yiyi Liao, 2021. "Risk Management: Exploring Emerging Human Resource Issues during the COVID-19 Pandemic," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-23, May.
    7. Claudio Mancilla & Luz María Ferrada & Sergio Soza-Amigo & Adriano Rovira, 2022. "Labour Commutation in the Agricultural Sector—An Analysis of Agricultural Workers in Chile," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Stephan J. Goetz & Connor Heaton & Muhammad Imran & Yuxuan Pan & Zheng Tian & Claudia Schmidt & Umair Qazi & Ferda Ofli & Prasenjit Mitra, 2023. "Food insufficiency and Twitter emotions during a pandemic," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(2), pages 1189-1210, June.

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