Rural Laws: April, 2001 - Number #10

In New York, labor activists are trying to end the exclusion of farm workers from overtime laws. One farmer countered that overtime pay would bankrupt many farmers: "The profit margins in the fruit and vegetable business are so small that we haven't made any money for four years. We're being flooded in this country with produce from Chile, Mexico and Argentina. These added benefits [for workers] would be too big a burden on farmers."

The New York Times on April 2, 2001profiled Hudson Valley Foie Gras farm, which has 80 Mexican-born workers who feed 30,000 ducks three times a day by inserting tubes down their throats. Each worker force feeds about 350 ducks several times a day, usually in 30-40 seconds, in a process that gives the ducks enlarged livers. Workers are paid $6 an hour, with bonuses for more and larger livers.

Hudson Valley produces about 75 percent of US foie gras.

Activists complain that Hudson Valley requires its duck feeders to work 30 days without a day off, and they want the state to pass a law guaranteeing farm workers at least one day off after six days of work. The farm opposes the mandatory day off, saying that "the ducks get used to one feeder and the quality of the results will be greatly damaged if someone else comes in one day a week to do the feedings."

When the intensive feeding begins, the ducks are 14 weeks old and their livers weigh three ounces. After 30 days, their livers weigh 1.5 to 2 pounds, and are worth up to $27 a pound. Hudson Valley produced more than 400,000 pounds of livers in 2000 worth $10 million.

France feeds ducks for only 14 days, and usually gives feeders four days off before they begin feeding a new batch of ducks.

Year-Round Workers. There is relatively little data on the earnings of year-round farm workers employed on livestock farms. Many are paid salaries, and many receive housing and other benefits. The AgJobsUSA agency in Garden City, Kansas, says that it has far more requests for livestock workers than applicants as, for example, the number of pork producers falls, but the number of hogs raised increases.

William Edwards, a farm management specialist at Iowa State University, says that attracting year-round workers means farmers will have to change their attitudes on wages: "They traditionally haven't been willing to pay competitive wages. They're going to have to pay higher to attract labor." In Nebraska's Sand Hills, married livestock workers earned an average $17,000 in 1998, and unmarried workers $13,700.

Dutch. Some Dutch farmers are selling land in the Netherlands for $20,000 an acre, and using the money to establish farms in the US. The Vreba-Hoff Dairy Development Corp. of Hudson, Michigan helps Dutch farmers to locate US farm land; many of the Dutch farmers establish dairies in the US. Some local farmers in the Midwest reportedly resent the 500 to 700 cow dairies established by the Dutch.

Texas. Texas Senator Eddie Lucio (D-Brownsville) introduced a bill to require schools to begin classes no sooner than August 21 so that migrant children enroll when classes begin. According to Lucio, there are 93,000 migrant children in the state, and 58,000 begin school with other students-often in the first or second week of August.

Bill Michelmore, "Migrant Rights Groups Are Fighting For Farm Workers," Buffalo News, March 28, 2001. Steven Greenhouse, "No days off at Foie Gras farm," New York Times, April 2, 2001.