Wages rise on California farms. Americans still don’t want the job

Market forces at work

 

It kind of touches on an earlier thread we were discussing about mechanisation - it just needs the right incentive and catalyst I guess.

 

Get ready to pay more for your veggies then, and don't whine when you do.

However, there are two points to this story that are being overlooked. The first one is:

"Today, farmworkers in the state earn about $30,000 a year if they work full time — about half the overall average pay in California. Most work fewer hours." This also begs the question what is "full time"?

Then there is this:

"But the raises and new perks have not tempted native-born Americans to leave their day jobs for the fields."

Why quit a job to go work in the fields for what appears to be equal pay, or less pay?

 

Same as they do here which is hire or lease the equipment or part-ownership if there are enough growers that require similar machinery.

 

Speculate to accumulate. USDA assist in things like that don't they?

 

Seems they do... https://www.fsa.usda.gov/programs-and-services/farm-loan-programs/farm-operating-loans/index

 

Machines can't pick everything, and it still takes people to inspect, separate, and package goods.

 

then they switch to less labour intensive crops

 

And if there is no market for those crops?