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Seasonal farm labor and COVID‐19 spread

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  • Diane Charlton

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020 caused unprecedented shocks to agricultural food systems, including increased risk to worker health, labor‐related input costs, and production uncertainty. Despite employer precautions, there were numerous worksite outbreaks of COVID‐19. This paper examines the relationship between month‐to‐month variation in historical agricultural employment and changes in the incidence of confirmed COVID‐19 cases and deaths within U.S. counties from April to August 2020. The results show that employment of 100 additional workers in fruit, vegetable, and horticultural production was associated with 4.5% more COVID‐19 cases within counties or an additional 18.65 COVID‐19 cases and 0.34 additional COVID‐19 deaths per 100,000 individuals in the county workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Diane Charlton, 2022. "Seasonal farm labor and COVID‐19 spread," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 1591-1609, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:apecpp:v:44:y:2022:i:3:p:1591-1609
    DOI: 10.1002/aepp.13190
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lyu, Shengqi & Wang, Lei & Gu, Guoda, 2025. "How external policy shock influences domestic agricultural product prices: The case of containment policy," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 399-421.

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