Farmworkers in Southwest Florida

Final Report

Fritz Roka

University of Florida

Southwest Florida Research and Education Center

Immokalee, FL

Dorothy Cook

Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council

North Ft. Myers, FL

September 30, 1998

Farmworkers in Southwest Florida

Outline

I.  Introduction and Study Objectives 1

II.  Agricultural Production in Southwest Florida 3

     a. Citrus production 6

     b. Tomato and vegetable production 8

III.  Counting Farm Workers in Southwest Florida 11

     a. Southwest Florida Agricultural Labor - March 1997 Survey 12

     b. Southwest Florida Agricultural Labor - January 1998 Survey 15

     c. Discussion of farmworker counts and trends in farmworker numbers 19

III.  Demographic Information on Seasonal Farmworkers in Southwest Florida 23

IV.  Population of Seasonal Farmworkers and Distribution of Farmworkers across Southwest Florida Counties 30

VI.  Summary and Conclusion 32

VII.  References 34

VIII.  Appendix - Previous Farmworker Studies 36

IX.  Attachments

     a. March 1997 Survey 44

     b. January 1998, Employer Survey 45

     c. January 1998, Worker Survey 46

Farmworkers in Southwest Florida

I. Introduction and Study Objectives

The citrus and vegetable industries of southwest Florida have long depended upon a sizable number of seasonal farmworkers to harvest and perform various field tasks. Seasonal farmworkers in southwest Florida are responsible for harvesting almost 180,000 acres of citrus trees and more than 31,000 acres of fresh vegetable crops. In addition, they perform several pre-harvest field tasks including transplanting, tying, staking and pruning. A shortage of seasonal farmworkers would seriously crimp economic viability of the citrus and fresh vegetable industries in southwest Florida.

Seasonal farmworkers have been regarded as an impoverished socio-economic class and have been at the center of many public debates over issues of "social justice." With minimal formal education and low income levels, many farmworkers reside in housing units which most Americans would deem as sub-standard. For a number of years, farm labor advocacy groups have been at odds with some agricultural growers over what they perceive as unfair labor hiring practices. Further complicating the seasonal farmworker picture is its historical migratory work patterns and an increasing demographic shift toward foreign-born workers, many of whom work in U.S. agriculture without proper authorization from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

Community leaders, both in and out of agriculture, are concerned about "social justice" issues, including general working conditions, reasonable housing standards, and access to public health and educational services. Developing reliable statistics that describe the number and demographic characteristics of seasonal farmworkers is the first step toward drafting appropriate and reasonable plans that meet agricultural and broader community concerns.

A number of attempts have been made to enumerate the farmworker population. The rate of worker turnover and the transient nature of seasonal farmworkers have made it difficult to develop accurate and consistent estimates of farmworker numbers. In 1988, the Florida Institute of Government and the Center for Environmental and Urban Problems prepared a study that estimated the number of farmworker in the state to be 104,000 (FAU). Dependents and spouses accompanying farmworkers were not included in this estimate. Two years later, the Atlas of State Profiles included dependents of farmworkers and estimated Florida's farmworker population to be in excess of 435,000 people. Of that total, 183,000 people were classified as the migrant farmworker population. In 1993, the Migrant Enumeration Project (Larson and Plaxcencia) stated that Florida's migrant farmworker population was more than 238,000 people including dependents. Finally, in 1997, the Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing published 139,000 as Florida's migrant farmworker population which included both farmworkers and their dependents (Smith).

Farmworker estimates for southwest Florida have been equally variable. The 1988 Florida Institute of Government study estimated 8,000 farmworkers (no dependents) in southwest Florida (FAU). The study, Farmworkers in Lee County, cited job service statistics for the 1992/93 season indicating 11,600 farmworkers in Collier, Lee and Hendry Counties (Spikowski). The Atlas of State Profiles and the Shimberg Center analysis included dependents in their estimates of farmworker populations in southwest Florida. The Atlas reported a total farmworker population in southwest Florida of almost 54,000, of which, almost 25,000 were migrant farmworkers and their accompanying dependents. The Shimberg estimate placed the regional migrant farmworker population alone to be slightly more than 31,000 people.

The lack of consensus among the previous studies, particularly over the number of farmworkers in southwest Florida, pushed community leaders to call for another study effort that simply focused on the southwest Florida farmworker population. A long term goal among community leaders in southwest Florida is to improve the quality and quantity of farmworker housing. A reliable statistical description of the farmworker population could help draft future housing plans and guide the delivery of health, educational, and other public services.

This paper reports the findings of that study effort. The study objectives were to collect data on the size and demographic features of the seasonal farmworker population in southwest Florida. Unlike the previous studies, this effort attempts to base farmworker population estimates more closely around the agricultural production activities.

Funding support for this project was received from both public and private entities. Public support was provided by the Florida Department of Community Affairs, and the county commissioners of Charlotte, Collier, Hendry and Lee Counties. Private support was provided by the Gulf Citrus Growers' Association and the Redlands Christian Migrant Association. The broad base of support that this project received reflects the broad community interest to find reasonable solutions that would improve the overall welfare of farmworkers.

The next section of this report describes agricultural production in southwest Florida and presents some expectations of future developments. Section 3 develops estimates of the number of farmworkers in southwest Florida. Both full-time and seasonal workers are considered. Section 4 presents demographic data of seasonal farmworkers. Demographic data were collected on age, gender and ethnic origin of seasonal workers. Additional data were further developed to describe seasonal farmworker households including the number of adults, the number and ages of children that are living in the household, and employment of household members. Section 5 combines the study results with other data sources to develop estimates of the farmworker population in southwest Florida, including estimates of the migrant farmworker population. Farmworker populations are estimated by southwest Florida county. Section 6 concludes with a summary and conclusions.

II: Agricultural Production in Southwest Florida

The number of agricultural workers in an area is dictated largely by the extent of agricultural activity in the area. Thus, knowing the extent to which that activity may change in the near future provides a good basis for projecting the likely changes in agricultural employment and needs for housing and other public services. This section of the report establishes the extent of agricultural activity in southwest Florida, providing a basis for estimating the number of workers in the area presently and likely to be there in the next few years.

Agriculture is an important component to the regional economy of southwest Florida. For the purposes of this study, southwest Florida is defined to include Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee Counties. The region has significant agricultural resources which are devoted to citrus, vegetables, sugar cane, ornamental nursery crops and cattle production. Over the past ten years, the economic importance of agriculture in southwest Florida has grown, both in its contribution to the region's economy and in its relative importance within Florida agriculture.

Agriculture is an "export" industry -- producing and selling products out of the region while channeling income and employment into the region. Five percent of total earnings and nine percent of employment within the southwest Florida region are directly connected to agricultural operations (Mulkey et.al). Indirect economic impacts from agricultural production are estimated to be between 60 and 70 cents per dollar of sales outside the region (Mulkey et.al). That is, for every dollar of agricultural product sold outside the region, another 60 to 70 cents of economic activity are generated through support industries and services within the region. Agriculture contributes almost one-billion dollars of sales revenue to the southwest Florida economy. When indirect economic impacts are included, agricultural enterprises help sustain more than $1.5 billion of economic activity in southwest Florida (Mulkey et.al).

During the 1995/96 season, farm sales totaled more than $880 million despite below average citrus and tomato prices. Table 1 shows the distribution of agricultural sales among the major commodities. Vegetables account for 45% of total agricultural marketings. Sales of citrus crops make up 28% of total sales. Sugar cane, ornamental nursery crops and cattle sales collectively contribute 27%. The two single crops that provide the best indicator of agricultural activity in southwest Florida are oranges and tomatoes. Together, they account for 43% of all crop sales.

Table 2 describes the 1995/96 planted acreage by major commodities for each southwest Florida county. Overall, 40% of the land area in southwest Florida is dedicated to agriculture. Agricultural land is especially important in Glades and Hendry Counties, where farmland represents more than 70 percent of county area. Collectively, citrus, vegetables, sugar cane and nursery crops comprise only 23% of the 1.4 million acres of harvested cropland in southwest Florida. However, these are high valued crops. Citrus and sugar cane generate crop sales of more than $1,100 per acre. Vegetable acreage averages more than $8,600 of sales per acre and one acre of nursery crops generates more than $22,000 of farm sales. Cow-calf operations utilize a significant amount of land. More than one-million acres support 164,000 head of brood cows. For the most part, cattle

Source: Florida Agricultural Statistic Service, Vegetable Summary, Citrus Summary, Field Crops Summary, and Livestock Summary.

1/ Assumptions behind livestock marketing total: a) total Florida cattle marketings were 4,760,000 cwt;

b) Southwest Florida represents 12.6% of state total;

c) 23% of marketings were cull cows @ $35.40 per cwt;

d) 77% of marketings were calves @ $70.00 per cwt.

Source: Florida Agricultural Statistic Service, Vegetable Summary, Citrus Summary, Field Crops Summary, and Livestock Summary.

enterprises are low intensity operations. The animals provide largely for their own nutrition by grazing over vast areas of native range and improved pastures. Cattle provide an important source of revenue ($35 per acre, Table 1)) on land that is unsuitable for other commercial activities.

Citrus production

Severe freezes in the mid and late 1980's destroyed large amounts of citrus acreage in central Florida. Growers responded by replanting in southwest Florida acreage lost in other regions. While southwest Florida flatwood soils pose difficult water management challenges, growers gambled that the reduced costs of fewer expected freezes would more than offset the additional planting and management costs. In 1986, southwest Florida accounted for less than 12% of the Florida citrus acreage. By 1996, the importance of southwest Florida has grown to more than 20% of the state's citrus industry. Within southwest Florida, Hendry County ranks first with almost 100,000 acres of citrus. Collier, Charlotte, Lee and Glades Counties follow in descending order of planted acreage (Table 3).

Evidence suggests that the rate of new planting has slowed. Between 1994-96, citrus acreage in southwest Florida grew only 1.4% as compared to a 12.3% rate of expansion between 1992-94 (Table 3). Despite a decrease in the rate of new planting, overall citrus production in southwest Florida is expected to increase. Over the next ten years, citrus production has been projected to increase by 30% as young trees reach their full bearing potential (Table 4). Current production is between 60 and 62 million boxes. Barring freezes and other unexpected tree loss events, citrus production in southwest Florida is expected to exceed 80 million boxes by the year 2005.

Source: Florida Agricultural Statistic Service, Annual Citrus Summary, 1986 - 1996.

Growers are concerned over the current "soft" market conditions. Record crops in Florida and Brazil over the past two years, coupled with only moderate demand growth, have dampened on-tree price expectations. Between 1990 and 1996, the average on-tree price of oranges fell from $5.89 per box to $4.63 per box (FASS).

The Florida grapefruit industry has been in the economic doldrums for the past four years, as growers are caught in an economic vice of abundant production and flat consumer demand. Grapefruit boxes sold for an average of $6.62 in 1992 (FASS). During 1996, average grapefruit prices fell to less than $2.00 per box (FASS). Fortunately, grapefruit in southwest Florida accounts for less than 12% of the total citrus acreage and most of the harvested grapefruit enters a favorable early season fresh fruit market.

Sources:

1/ Florida Agricultural Statistic Service (FASS), Annual Citrus Summary, 1986-1996.

2/ Projections provided by Dr. Mark Brown, Economist, Florida Department of Citrus.

Tomato/Vegetable Production

Much of the attention has focused on the tomato industry, which in southwest Florida accounts for 45% of total vegetable acreage. In southwest Florida vegetable acreage has decreased by more than 30% over the past five years (Table 5). Tomato acreage alone has fallen by almost 32% since the 1993-94 season when southwest Florida growers planted 21,600 acres. The industry contraction coincided with the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Mexican competition and general fragmentation of the tomato market have combined to decrease Florida's share of the fresh winter tomato market.

Mexican produce imports have always competed with Florida produce in the winter fresh vegetable market. However, in recent years, Mexican growers have aggressively adopted new technologies which have allowed them to significantly lower their unit production costs. Further, Mexican growers capitalized on peso devaluations, which increased their financial incentive to export tomatoes and other fresh vegetables into the United States. Finally, Mexican tomato growers have promoted varieties labeled as "vine-ripe." These varieties have achieved broad market appeal among consumers in the United States.

Source: Florida Agricultural Statistic Service, Vegetable Summary 1996-97

Source: Florida Agricultural Statistic Service, Vegetable Summary 1996-97

At one time, Florida mature-green tomato varieties dominated winter grocery shelves in northeastern United States. The mature-green continues to be the main stay of the Florida tomato industry. These are high yielding varieties with good extended shelf life characteristics. However, the introduction of vine-ripe varieties, with similar shelf life qualities, has fragmented the winter tomato market. In addition, cluster and hot-house tomatoes have expanded the choices available to the consuming public and further reduced the retail shelf space once occupied by Florida tomatoes.

While the vegetable industry in southwest Florida faces critical challenges, it is difficult to predict the future size and scope of the industry. Despite the industry's contraction, it is premature to forecast its general demise. Tables 5 and 6 suggest a historical perspective tempers some of the current general pessimism. To some extent , vegetable acreage in southwest Florida has been cyclical and the recent decline in vegetable acreage is not as great if compared to 1986-87 levels (Table 5). Further, acreage statistics indicate that the relative importance of the southwest Florida vegetable industry has been increasing (Table 6). Urbanization of Dade and Palm Beach Counties has forced some agricultural operations to relocate to southwest Florida.

Volatility, both with respect to price and production, is a key feature within the vegetable industry. Adverse weather in one production region, quickly impacts the market and could bring favorable price conditions to unaffected regions. Such conditions took place during the 1997/98 growing season when El Nino induced weather hampered Mexican vegetable production and growers in southwest Florida enjoyed profitable market prices for most of the growing period.

Finally, one must never underestimate the ingenuity of agricultural producers. The remaining growers in southwest Florida are highly sophisticated and are pursuing yield enhancing technologies. As an organization, they secured a trade agreement with Mexico in 1996 that established a $5.17 floor price of imported tomatoes. If, in fact, the mature-green tomato has lost some market appeal, growers will experiment with different tomato and vegetable varieties. Overall, market fragmentation could offer new niche market opportunities as growers respond to meet consumers tastes and preferences.

III: Counting Farmworkers in Southwest Florida

A primary objective of this study was to estimate the number of farmworkers in southwest Florida. This study adopted an indirect approach to develop farmworker counts using data sources such as crop acreage and worker productivity estimates. A direct approach would rely on a census of farmworkers. Previous attempts at conducting a census of seasonal farmworkers have proved inaccurate because a large number of seasonal farmworkers migrate among production regions and therefore do not maintain permanent residencies.

Within many public agencies, farmworkers are separated into "seasonal" and "migrant" categories on the basis of their residency status. In this context, a seasonal farmworker resides in one location year-round while a migrant farmworker changes residences at least once during the year. In this report, the term "seasonal farmworker" is used slightly differently. A seasonal farmworker is defined as an employment category. That is, someone who is employed on an as needed or day-to-day basis. A migrant farmworker is considered to be a seasonal worker, but with the demographic distinction of changing residences. Section IV of this report summarizes how farmworkers answered questions regarding whether they were migrant farmworkers or not.

By definition, a farmworker is employed doing field activities related to the production and harvest of an agricultural commodity. Therefore, the numerical counts estimated in this study do not include workers in packing houses and processing plants. Estimates of farmworkers are developed for both full-time and seasonal workers. Full-time, or permanent workers, occupy year round positions and include tractor drivers, equipment maintenance personnel, farm managers, and office support staff. Seasonal farmworkers are important to carry out a number of field tasks. Of particular importance is harvesting. Citrus and vegetable industries in southwest Florida rely on seasonal workers to hand pick fruit and vegetables. Vegetable growers utilize seasonal workers throughout the production season to transplant, stake, tie and prune plants. At one time, sugar cane was hand cut by seasonal farmworkers. However, since 1993 the sugar industry in south Florida has converted completely to mechanical harvesting. Sugar cane growers still depend on seasonal labor to annually replant as much as 30% of their acreage (Shine).

Crop acreage is the basis for estimating the number of full-time farmworkers per commodity. Farm payroll records provide accurate counts of full-time workers. By grouping employer records by crop, a ratio of acres per worker is calculated by dividing crop acreage by total number of full-time employees. Applying this acre-worker ratio to the crop acreage in southwest Florida provides an industry level estimate of full-time employment.

Accurate estimates of seasonal farmworker numbers cannot be developed solely through employer payroll records and crop acreage. Seasonal farmworkers make up a "casual" labor force. That is, workers decide on a daily basis when and to whom they sell their labor services. One person may work six days a week, another only two. One person may work for the same farm year after year, another person may switch employers weekly or even daily. While total crop acreage may provide an initial basis to estimate farmworker numbers, a more accurate accounting will depend on knowing the daily volume or acreage of specific work tasks, the productivity of an average worker by task, and an estimate of an average worker's work week hours.

Two survey efforts were conducted to estimate the number of full-time and seasonal farmworkers in southwest Florida. The first effort took place during March of 1997. Data from this survey provided estimates of full-time farmworkers, and to some extent the demand for seasonal farmworkers. The second survey effort commenced January 1998. This survey collected data on worker productivity and seasonal farmworker demographics.

A. Southwest Florida Agricultural Labor Survey - March 1997

Attachment I (page 44) is a copy of the survey which was distributed to agricultural landowners in southwest Florida during March 1997. The first part of the survey clarified whether the landowner made the relevant labor employment decisions. If not, the landowner was asked to forward the survey or provide the name of the individual or company who managed the property and made employment decisions. The second part of the survey asked for the total number of employees on hand as of March 12, 1997. The 12th day was chosen as a matter of employer convenience, since this is the same monthly reference day used by other statistical agencies to collect labor market information. The employer was asked to separate total employment into permanent and seasonal categories. Seasonal workers hired through independent contractors were listed separately. If the landowner/employer did not know the exact number of contracted workers, they were asked to provide the names of contractors used on the reference day. Finally, the third part of the survey asked for a generic description of the agricultural operation(s) including commodities grown and their approximate acreage.

A mailing list of 767 agricultural landowners was compiled from address records of the five county property appraisers' offices in southwest Florida. The first mailing took place during early March. A follow-up mailing occurred one month later. 103 individuals from the original mailing list were identified either as out-of-business or as investors who did not contribute to the employment decisions. Of the remaining 664 names, 171 (25.8%) responded with employment information. Table 7 summarizes the response rate and the commodity acreage represented by the survey respondents. Based on 1995/96 acreage reported in Table 1, survey employment responses represented 76% of the citrus acreage, 36% of the vegetable acreage and 70% of the sugar cane acreage in southwest Florida. Survey data were used to develop per acre estimates of permanent positions in citrus, vegetable, sugar cane, and ornamental nursery operations.

The data were separated by commodity groups and were further sorted by respondents who reported labor information on only one commodity versus those operations which grew multiple crops. Table 8 presents data from those respondents who reported labor data on a single commodity. "Acres per full-time worker" was calculated from the reported data and represented the ratio of the reported acres to number of full-time workers. For example, 82 survey respondents reported that they collectively hired 792 full-time workers for 97,532 acres of citrus. This translates to 123 acres per full-time worker. In Table 9, this ratio is utilized to generate the estimate of 1,456 full-time workers who are employed by the southwest Florida citrus industry. Similar acreage-to-worker ratios were calculated for vegetable, sugar cane and ornamental nurseries. Insufficient data were collected from cattle operations to determine a comparable acre-worker ratio. However, an estimate of the total

1/ Total respondents were 171 out of 664 potential respondents (25.8%). Some respondents grew multiple commodities.

1/ Limited information was available from citrus growers on numbers of seasonal farmworkers because they generally hire harvesting labor through labor contractors.

2/ At the time of the survey (March), demand for seasonal workers by sugar cane growers was low.

3/ Ratio reflects a mixture of tree nurseries and bedding plant nurseries.

4/ Worker productivity measures for cattle are a function of the number of animals handled rather than the acreage of pasture. Survey respondents did not provide cattle numbers.

number of full-time workers on cattle operations data was estimated from an assumption that one full-time person was required per 750 brood cows, a minimum size herd to be commercially viable.

A limited amount of information on seasonal farmworkers was collected from the March 1997 survey. Citrus harvest is coordinated primarily through specialized labor contracting companies. In general, citrus harvesters are considered employees of the labor contractor and not of the grower. As a result, there was little information from the March survey to draw relationships between citrus acreage and numbers of seasonal farmworkers.

While vegetable and nursery producers utilize crew leaders and labor contractors to recruit workers, these growers typically maintain the payroll accounts, and therefore seasonal farmworkers are considered employees of the farm. Data from vegetable and nursery operations provided some evidence of seasonal farm labor requirements. On the reference day (March 12, 1997), one seasonal farmworker was employed for every 13 acres of vegetables. Similarly for nursery operations, one seasonal farmworker was employed for every 8.6 acres of nursery production. As previously stated, estimating the number of seasonal farmworkers based on acreage will not be accurate because they are hired on a daily basis to do specific tasks. Survey work in 1998 correlated farmworker numbers with farm tasks and estimates of worker productivity.

1/ Florida Agricultural Statistic Service and Table 1.

2/ Based on March 1997 Southwest Florida Agricultural Labor Survey (see Table 8)

3/ Divide total acres by acres per worker.

4/ One full-time worker assumed per 750 head. Southwest Florida cow inventory - 164,000 head (Table 1).

Table 9 summarizes the estimated number of full-time positions by agricultural commodity in southwest Florida. More than 4,700 workers are employed full-time by citrus, vegetable, sugar cane, nursery, and cattle operations in southwest Florida. Not included in this estimate are workers employed by packing houses, processing plants, and fruit hauling companies.

B. Southwest Florida Seasonal Agricultural Labor Survey - January 1998

Multiple survey efforts were initiated during January1998. These efforts focused primarily on the citrus and vegetable industries and were designed to develop numerical estimates and demographic statistics of the seasonal farmworker population in southwest Florida. Both employers and farmworkers were interviewed. Employer surveys collected information on farmworker hours and production performance by field task. The first part of the worker survey collected information about job performance over two time periods -- the first week of January and the seven days prior to the survey date. Job questions included type of job done, hours worked, payment method and how much was accomplished during the hours worked. The second part of the worker survey asked demographic questions including residency status in southwest Florida and household characteristics. Attachment 2 presents the employer questionnaire and Attachment 3 presents the worker questionnaire. Section IV of this report summarizes the results of the demographic questions.

Employer and farmworker information was used to develop counts of seasonal farmworkers in citrus and tomatoes. The week of January 4 - 11, 1998 was chosen as the reference week to develop seasonal farmworker counts. While the first week of January did not represent peak vegetable production, the reference week did coincide with the peak harvest period of the early and mid season citrus crop. Specifically, the Florida Department of Labor chose January 6^th as their reference day for the Early/Mid Season Citrus Prevailing Wage and Rate Survey (King).

Tables 10 and 11 present information relevant to the estimate of seasonal farmworkers employed in citrus harvesting operations on January 6th. Tables 12 and 13 develop similar information for seasonal farmworkers employed on tomato farms. Table 14 summarizes the seasonal farmworker counts.

Citrus

Table 10 summarizes the information used to estimate the daily volume of citrus harvested between January 4 - 11^th in southwest Florida. The Citrus Administrative Committee reported state level weekly harvest volumes. This volume was allocated to southwest Florida by the acreage proportion of early/mid oranges, grapefruit and specialty trees. Only early/mid season orange varieties were counted because late season oranges (Valencias) were not being harvested during the first week of January. An estimate of daily harvest volume from southwest Florida was based on the assumptions that a weekly harvest volume was spread equally over six harvest days. Given the available statistics and stated assumptions, an estimated 376,000 boxes of citrus were harvested per day in southwest Florida between January 4 -11,1998.

1/ Citrus Administrative Committee (Chadwick).

2/ Florida Agricultural Statistics Service, Annual Citrus Summary 1996-97. Production percentages based on bearing acres.

3/ There was assumed to be six harvest days per week and harvest volume was assumed to be equal to the average daily harvest.

1/ Data collected from citrus harvesting companies (February - March 1998).

Employer data were collected on more than 1,300 citrus harvesters (Table 11). Collectively, these workers picked 107,610 boxes over 11,060 hours. An average harvester worked 8.42 hours per day and harvested 9.73 boxes per hour. Consequently, the average worker picked 82 boxes per day during the first part of January. Dividing the estimated daily harvest volume (376,000 boxes) by the average daily worker productivity (82 boxes per day) provided an estimate that 4,585 workers were employed daily harvesting citrus during early January 1998.