In farming, there are many unknowns. The economy, weather and customer demand can affect crops and ultimately a farmer's bottom line.
This year the agricultural industry was thrown a curveball with COVID-19. Now as harvest season approaches, farmers are facing new questions about the availability of workers and how to keep them safe.
Farms in Adams and Franklin counties rank No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in Pennsylvania for fruit, tree nut and berry sales.
"Generally, one of the biggest concerns right now — and we're hearing from our members, especially Adams and Franklin and areas where fruit growing is the primary agriculture sector — it's just access to workers," said Liam Migdail of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.
The potential shortage comes from recent restrictions to international workers in light of COVID-19 and fears about what to do if too many employees get sick.
"That would shut us down in a heartbeat. If we all got the coronavirus, OK, nobody could work, the fruit falls on the ground ... ," said Kay Hollabaugh, co-owner and manager at Hollabaugh Bros. Inc. in Butler Township. But, in the meantime, the farm is trying to stay positive and keeping their workers "safe and healthy."
Not only could a shortage of workers affect a farmer's ability to pick produce to sell, but it could also mean fewer options available for customers in stores and an increase in unemployment.
But some farmers say it's too early to tell if coronavirus regulations are going to affect their ability to harvest fruits and vegetables, since many begin between May and July.
"We don't even know if [workers are] going to be able to come, so working on stuff that we may not have to work on is not something that we tend to do," said Chris Baugher, co-owner of Adams County Nursery in Menallen Township.
'Locals don't want the work'
In 2016, the fruit industry contributed $580 million to the Adams County economy, creating 8,500 jobs and $16.4 million in local tax revenue, according to a study commissioned by Adams County Fruit Growers, Penn State Extension and others.
The South Mountain Fruit Belt produces 70 percent of Pennsylvania's total crop, which is about 400 million to 500 million pounds of apples a year.
Franklin County is also ranked No. 2 in the state for production of vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes.
In 2019, there were more than 1,800 guest workers in Pennsylvania through the H-2A visa program.
Denton Benedict, co-owner of Benedict's Produce in Franklin County, usually employs around 90 workers through this visa program.
The program allows agricultural employers to hire temporary workers from outside the U.S. to perform temporary or seasonal work when there's a lack of available domestic workers, according to Farmers.gov.
"Not being able to find good help locally is the reason that we went to the H-2A program," said Baugher, who usually hires around 24 workers out of Honduras.
The H-2A program requires that participants attempt to fill jobs with domestic workers, which farmers say is difficult.
"For example, we've had our [job] ad out since two months or something, I haven't got a single response, so if that tells you anything [it's] that locals don't want to work [picking vegetables]," Benedict said.
At Adams County Nursery, one apple picker will pick 150 to 200 bushels of apples a day within the span of three months. Baugher said the year before he began employing H-2A workers in 2017, they lost 5,000 bushels — that's between $4 and $10 a bushel.
Hollabaugh said that they do not hire H-2A workers, but they also have a hard time hiring domestic workers because people aren't interested.
"We've been in business since 1955, I've been involved in the business for probably 35 years, and I would say in the last 10 to 15 years there's been a dramatic shift away from anyone domestic wanting to apply for any of our jobs," Hollabaugh said.
Hollabaugh said the factors in this include:
— People don't have the skills to do this kind of work anymore.
— It's hard physical labor. Domestic workers don't want to work in the 95-degree weather, with humidity, carrying a crate around their neck that weighs 35 pounds.
— The pay is lower than what a domestic person will work for. Hollabaugh said they pay $10 to $15 an hour for people with skills and minimum wage for those without any skills, like high school students.
"There is a skill set involved," Hollabaugh said. "The people who work for us who harvest our fruits and vegetables are very skilled, they're very fast. They come to work in the morning with the sole purpose in mind to work to the best of their ability because we're giving them a job, and they're so grateful for it."
On March 20, the U.S. State Department temporarily suspended routine visa services like in-person interviews at all U.S. embassies and consulates in response to the pandemic. Embassies in Mexico, which last year supplied 91 percent of H-2A workers to the U.S., were the first to implement this policy.
On March 26, the State Department released an announcement allowing consular officers to waive visa interview requirements for first-time and returning H-2 applicants who have no apparent ineligibility or potential ineligibility.
Some changes from the State Department were aimed at trying to increase the labor supply, "but it didn't fix the whole problem. We're still advocating to try to get more access to H-2A workers," Migdail said.
While Benedict said that his application seemed to be moving along, he said he did expect that his workers' arrival date would be pushed back.
"If we don't get our help — I mean, we're already laying plastic, we got the greenhouses full of plants, so we're counting on that," Benedict said. "If that would fall through, I mean, that would be devastating."
Keeping workers healthy, virus-free
Employers that use the H-2A program are required to provide transportation and housing for their workers.
At Adams County Nursery, migrant workers are housed in a barracks-style camp that fits about 16 people and two mobile units that can house 12 more.
These living conditions do not allow for self-quarantine in case an employee gets the coronavirus. Baugher hopes that by the time he needs these employees in June, it won't be a problem anymore.
"We've thought about maybe the need to quarantine them when they arrive for two weeks, but we haven't thought about what a quarantine would look like if when we had them here we would need to quarantine them [individually]," Baugher said.
Hollabaugh hires migrant workers who are already in the country. She said they have not looked into how their employees can self-quarantine yet either, since their harvesting season isn't until early July.
"Right now we are going like the rest of the world, day to day. ... Certainly my hope and prayer is that by the Fourth of July it's not an issue anymore. That's my prayer, but if it still is an issue, that is absolutely something that we will be addressing. We will be following the CDC guidelines and doing whatever is required of us," Hollabaugh said.
Their camp is made up of apartment units available for singles and families, which would allow individuals to self-quarantine.
"I think it's reasonable to say that we can expect that there's going to be some shortages as a result of this," Migdail said. "I mean, if people's kids are out of school or day cares close, they get sick, a family member gets sick, I think those ripple effects of not necessarily being able to have the workers you usually do are absolutely a concern."
As part of the U.S. government's attempt to help encourage employees to choose their health over their paycheck, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.
This includes farmers who employ fewer than 500 people, Migdail said.
"We are also mindful of the financial strain this places on many farms, who are already operating on tight margins and contending with the economic fallout of the pandemic," Migdail said. "We are advocating for farms to be able to access the assistance they need to remain viable during this time."
No workers, no farms
A shortage of farm workers has much greater consequences than just fewer hands to pick the fruits and vegetables grown in Franklin and Adams counties. Nationally, this shortage could mean less produce available for customers and fewer employment opportunities.
"There are a lot of jobs in between the apple tree on the farm and in the orchard and the bin at the grocery store. ... The industry as a whole employs a lot of people, and it generates extra economic boom for the areas as a result of that," Migdail said.
Benedict said he knows a lot of farmers who rely on H-2A workers to keep their farms going.
"If they would shut down the H-2A ... that would drastically impact the food for sure and prices will go up, or else there will be a shortage of it," Benedict said. "That's why I think they're trying pretty hard to let the H-2A stuff still go, because I think they realized that it would cripple agriculture."
Baugher said that if this shortage goes too far, the effects could be much more long term.
"The ag industries have not been faring well the last three or four years, and if they can't pay the bank, they're going to go away. ... If we don't have the workers to harvest the crops, you're going to lose jobs, you're going to have higher-price produce on the shelves and you're also going to lose farms, I believe," Baugher said.
For Benedict, one challenge he thinks he will have is selling his "crooked cucumbers or misshapen peppers" because of restaurant closures.
"Whereas the stores all want your nice-looking, No. 1 stuff, so I have a feeling there's going to be a lot dumped because of that," Benedict said.
But he knows that in the end, people have to eat.
"We're just rolling with it and we'll see what happens. Not much else you can do. ... We're going to do our best to provide it to them as long as we can get a reasonable price for stuff and we have the help to do it," Benedict said.
All he asks of the public is to shop local and fresh when possible.
"Maybe with this virus, people will pay more attention to that. They might want local, fresh stuff and know where it's coming from. ... We just keep on doing what we're doing and try to make a living." Benedict said.
Precautions
In the meantime, farmers are doing what they can to stay sanitary and ensure that the public can get their produce.
At Hollabaugh Bros., market employees are wearing masks and gloves while all employees are also being asked to stay at home if they feel sick or don't feel safe coming into work.
"My son takes care of the production crew, and he has been talking regularly with them about the CDC mandates, if you're sick stay home, wash your hands, don't touch your face, keep the distance," Hollabaugh said.
Baugher said they are doing what they can to keep employees at the nursery separated by keeping groups smaller then 10 and staggering lunches. At times it can be hard though, like when workers are packaging trees into boxes that are 5 feet long.
Baugher said they are hesitant to use N95 masks because of the shortage.
"We didn't figure we [should] put any more pressure on that market at the moment than there already is," he said.
While farms are doing everything to stay compliant, Hollabaugh said it can be hard to keep up with all the changes that come with every passing day.
"Every day is a new day with a new set of challenges that we're reading. What are the regulations now? What are they saying now? Can we do this? Should we do this or wait? It's crazy," Hollabaugh said.
One change they're facing is how they are going to market their crop. Usually, the Hollabaugh farm allows customers to pick out their individual produce, but that isn't safe to do this year.
"Everything that's coming in here right now that is not grown by us is being packaged in plastic. ... A worker who has a mask on and gloves on, that person is packing it in plastic so that no hands are ever touching it," Hollabaugh said.
If this continues, they will have to take the same precautions for peaches, though there is no evidence that human or animal food or food packaging is associated with transmission of COVID-19, according to a news release from the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
"It's vital that they're able to keep doing what they're doing through this, and that creates a whole other set of challenges," Migdail said. "OK, you are essential and you're going to keep operating, but how do you do that in a way that you know works with the new regulations or rules that we're seeing [at the] state, national level? How do you do that in a way that's safe for yourself, your workers, your family, the public?"
