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# Farm Labor Shortage Looms
- URL: https://ivn.us/farm-labor-shortage-looms/
- Published: 2012-05-04T17:00:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:24:23.000Z
- Author: Chris Hinyub
- Tags: News

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dc/be/dcbe1ac4-146f-43be-92a6-ea84728d86a6/content/images/2026/02/farm_work.jpg)](https://ivn.us/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/farm%5Fwork.jpg)

When the nation's farmers started experiencing labor shortages last year they didn't know what to expect for the future; for many, the situation was without precedent. [Early indicators](http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/04/26/1917673/pasco-farmer-abandons-asparagus.html?ref=ivn.us) for the 2012 season don't bode well for the nation's specialty crop growers who rely mainly on human labor instead of power-driven machines to bring their produce to market. No one is hitting the panic button just yet, but the situation is a bit scary.

According to Seattle NPR affiliate [KPLU](http://www.kplu.org/post/washingtons-asparagus-farmers-face-labor-shortage?ref=ivn.us), growers in Washington State are now plowing under large portions of their asparagus acreage because they can't find enough hands to harvest the labor-intensive crop in a timely manner. The situation in Georgia is so bad that state officials [have asked](http://www.pba.org/post/amid-farm-worker-shortage-prisons-coordinate-growers?ref=ivn.us) its prison population to pick a vast crop of onions.

The ensuing farm labor shortage begs an important question: in a nation with so many jobless claims, why are there so many unfilled jobs?

“These are jobs that frankly, Americans don’t want to do,” offered Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing last week.

Touche.

With the flow of migrant workers from Mexico into the U.S. slowing to a trickle ([if not reversing](http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-30/immigration-stalls-as-opportunities-wane-on-u-dot-s-dot-mexican-border?ref=ivn.us)) and a seemingly self-aggrandized work force – too far removed from its agrarian roots to even notice that there is a problem afoot – 2012 might break the [boom trend](https://ivn.us/2011/11/16/farm-exports-remain-a-bright-spot-for-u-s-economy/) that the agriculture sector has been experiencing for the past few years.