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Line 1: {{Short description\|Performs agricultural labor}} {{Redirect\|Farmhand}} {{Use dmy dates\|date=~~May~~November ~~2013~~2022}} [[File:Onion Picking and Cleaning.jpg\|alt=Two farmworkers, one dressed in blue covers and the other in red with a face covering, bending down. They are presumed to be cleaning and picking up onions on a grassy field. Location is unknown.\|thumb\|272x272px\|Two farm workers cleaning and picking at an onion field, location unknown ]] {{Rural society}}[[File:Ansel Adams - Farm workers and Mt. Williamson.jpg\|thumb\|right\|240px\|Farm workers on a field near [[Mount Williamson]] in [[Inyo County, California]]. This photograph is by [[Ansel Adams]].]] A '''farmworker''', '''farmhand''' or '''agricultural worker''' is someone employed for labor in agriculture. In labor law, the term "farmworker" is sometimes used more narrowly, applying only to a hired worker involved in agricultural production, including harvesting, but not to a worker in other on-[[farm]] jobs, such as picking fruit. Agricultural work varies widely depending on context, [[Intensive farming\|degree of mechanization]] and crop. In countries like the United States where there is a declining population of American citizens working on ~~farms—temporary~~farms — temporary or itinerant skilled labor from outside the country is recruited for labor -intensive crops like vegetables and fruits. [[File:عامل من السودان.jpg\|thumb\|left\|~~Sudan~~Sudanese farmer reviews cantaloupe production, south of [[Khartoum]]]] [[File:02 Jean Claude at work.jpg\|alt=A picture of a man in a cabbage farm\|thumb\|A Rwandan farmworker]] Agricultural labor is often the first community ~~effected~~affected by the human health impacts of [[Environmental impact of agriculture\|environmental issues related to agriculture]], such as [[health effects of pesticides]] or exposure to other health challenges such as [[valley fever]]. To address these environmental concerns, immigration challenges and marginal working conditions, many labor rights, [[economic justice]] and [[environmental justice]] movements have been organized or supported by farmworkers. ==Worldwide== Line 18 ⟶ 19: ===In Canada=== [[File:Nanton Alberta.jpg\|thumb\|Small town in Canada with farming history and heritage]] Canada {{as of \| 2010 \| lc = on}} had 297,683 agricultural employees; 112,059 were year-around and 185,624 were seasonal or temporary.<ref>{{Cite web\|url= https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=0040236&pattern=0040200..0040242&tabMode=dataTable&srchLan=-1&p1=1&p2=50\|title= Paid agricultural work in the year prior to the census\|website= www150.statcan.gc.ca\|date= 24 November 2014\|access-date= 2019-11-12}}</ref> Qualifying employers in Canada can hire temporary foreign farmworkers from participating countries for periods of up to 8 months per calendar year for on-farm primary agriculture in specified commodity sectors, if the work involved totals at least 240 hours within a period of 6 weeks or less.<ref name=ESDC>Employment and Social Development Canada. Hiring seasonal agricultural workers. http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/foreign_workers/agriculture/seasonal//index.shtml {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420041456/http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/foreign_workers/agriculture/seasonal/index.shtml \|date=20 April 2015 }}</ref> This Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, established in 1966, brings about 25,000 foreign workers to Canada each year. About 66 percent of those work in Ontario, 13 percent in Québec, and 13 percent in British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web\|url= http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/migrant-workers-who-they-are-where-they-re-coming-from-1.1137930\|title= Migrant workers: Who they are, where they're coming from\|~~website~~publisher=CBC ~~CBC~~News\|access-date= 2019-11-12}}</ref> [[File:Old woman cleaning olives.jpg\|thumb\|left\|Old woman cleaning olives]]▼ Workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, being citizens of Mexico and various Caribbean countries,<ref name=ESDC/> tend to be Spanish-speaking. Between 1991 and 1996, in British Columbia, the number of South Asian agricultural workers increased from 3,685 to 5,685, mostly Punjabi-speaking.<ref name="Runsten">{{Cite web\|url= http://www.naid.ucla.edu/uploads/4/2/1/9/4219226/c14_2000.pdf\|title= The Extent, Pattern, and Contributions of Migrant Labor in the NAFTA Countries\|access-date= 2019-11-12\|archive-date= 4 March 2016\|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304125508/http://www.naid.ucla.edu/uploads/4/2/1/9/4219226/c14_2000.pdf\|url-status= dead}}</ref> Analysis published in 2000 indicated that "Of the 5,000 workers employed by the over 100 licensed Farm Labour Contractors in British Columbia, two-thirds were recent immigrants who entered Canada less than 3 years ago. Of the 700 harvest workers surveyed, 97 percent were Punjabi speaking."<ref name=Runsten/> (British Columbia did not participate in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program until 2004.<ref name="Otero">{{Cite web\|url= https://www.sfu.ca/~otero/docs/Otero-and-Preibisch-Final-Nov-2010.pdf\|title= Farmworker Health and Safety: Challenges for British Columbia\|access-date= 2019-11-12}}</ref>). Many of the issues noted for ~~farmworkers~~farm workers in the US also apply in Canada.<ref name=Otero/> Analysis pertaining to Ontario noted that "All workers are eligible (with some variability) for provincial health insurance ... and workers compensation (WSIB), and are covered by provincial health and safety legislation through the Ministry of Labour, and yet [migrant farm workers] are not always able or willing to access these health and compensation services.".<ref>{{Cite web\|url= http://imrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMRC-Policy-Points-VI.pdf\|title= International Migration Research Centre\|website= imrc.ca\|access-date= 2019-11-12}}</ref>▼ [[File:Farmer plows his field with oxen at Cuba-Vinales.jpg\|thumb\|Farmer plows his field with oxen at Cuba-Vinales]]▼ ▲Many of the issues noted for farmworkers in the US also apply in Canada.<ref name=Otero/> Analysis pertaining to Ontario noted that "All workers are eligible (with some variability) for provincial health insurance ... and workers compensation (WSIB), and are covered by provincial health and safety legislation through the Ministry of Labour, and yet [migrant farm workers] are not always able or willing to access these health and compensation services."<ref>{{Cite web\|url= http://imrc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMRC-Policy-Points-VI.pdf\|title= International Migration Research Centre\|website= imrc.ca\|access-date= 2019-11-12}}</ref> Every Canadian province and territory has an office that deals with labour and employment laws. A person at the local employment or labour-standards office can talk to farmworkers about fair pay, hours of work, rest periods, and working conditions, and provide other services. An employer cannot punish a farmworker for contacting an employment-standards office.<ref>{{Cite web\|url= https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/permit/temporary/after-apply-next-steps/understand-your-rights-foreign-workers.html\|title= Understand your rights as a foreign worker\|last= Immigration\|first= Refugees and Citizenship Canada\|date= 2008-03-26\|website= aem\|access-date= 2019-11-12}}</ref> === In Cuba=== {{expand section\|date=November 2019}} ▲[[File:Farmer plows his field with oxen at Cuba-Vinales.jpg\|thumb\|Farmer plows his field with oxen at Cuba-Vinales]] Prior to [[Cuba under Fidel Castro\|social changes in the 1960s]], the all-important Cuban [[sugar]]-the growing economy had an integrated rural-urban workforce -— each season, town-dwellers helped to bring in the harvest.<ref> {{cite book \| last1 = Pollitt Line 42 ⟶ 43: \| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=reSXX-8OMVwC \| series = Rural economies in transition \| year = 2005 \| publisher = Lexington Books \| publication-date = 2005 Line 50 ⟶ 52: }} </ref> Subsequently, mechanisation ensued.<ref> {{cite book \| last1 = Pollitt Line 62 ⟶ 64: \| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=reSXX-8OMVwC \| series = Rural economies in transition \| year = 2005 \| publisher = Lexington Books \| publication-date = 2005 Line 70 ⟶ 73: }} </ref> [[File:Mexican farmer on his dugout.jpg\|thumb\|left\|Mexican farmer on his dugout]]▼ ===In Mexico=== The Encuesta ~~Nacional de~~Nacionalde Empleo estimated 2.7 million agricultural workers in Mexico. About a million are migrants. There is much use of seasonal and migrant agricultural labor in northwestern Mexico, because of the considerable fruit and vegetable production occurring in that region. Rough estimates of peak seasonal labor requirements for Sinaloa, Sonora, and Baja California Norte and Sur are 400,000 to 600,000.<ref name="Runsten" /> Several issues, particularly low pay, and harsh working conditions, have been identified that pertain to some farmworkers in Mexico.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/\|title=Hardship on Mexico's farms, a bounty for U.S. tables\|website=graphics.latimes.com\|date=7 December 2014 \|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> Many of these issues are pursued by farmworker organizations, with resulting labor action, e.g. strikes occurring in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.latinpost.com/articles/45297/20150401/50-000-mexican-farmworkers-have-gone-on-strike-in-baja-california-demanding-overtime-pay-breaks-healthcare-and-water.htm\|title=50,000 Mexican Farmworkers Have Gone on Strike in Baja California, Demand Overtime Pay, Breaks, Healthcare and Water\|date=2015-04-01\|website=Latin Post\|language=en-US\|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/north-americas-fruit-industry-feeling-effect-of-farm-workers-strike-in-mexico/article23700928/\|title=North ~~America’s~~America's fruit industry feeling effect of farm ~~workers’~~workers' strike in Mexico\|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> ▲[[File:Mexican farmer on his dugout.jpg\|thumb\|left\|Mexican farmer on his dugout]] Over the past quarter-century, water quality and pesticide issues affecting farmworkers in Mexico have been identified in peer-reviewed literature. The following examples are of interest, but are not necessarily broadly representative. In the Mezquital Valley of central Mexico, in the early 1990s, about 85,000 acres were irrigated with wastewater. A study of the implications found that important outcomes were diarrheal disease and parasitic infections in farmworkers and their families.<ref>Cifuentes, E. et al. 1993. Problemas de salud asociados al riego agricola con agua residual en Mexico. Salud Publica de Mexico [1993, 35(6):614-619]</ref> Pesticide issues were investigated in 200 farmworkers in a small area of northwestern Mexico in the 1990s. Of those workers, 59% could read at the third-grade level, few had received information about pesticides; 30% did not wear personal protective gear; and 20% had experienced acute [[pesticide poisoning]] at least once during the season investigated.<ref>de Jesús Chain-Castro, T. et al. 1998. Pesticide poisoning in Mexican seasonal farm workers. Int. J. Occupational Env. Health 4:202-203</ref> A study was conducted comparing 25 farm workers engaged in pesticide spraying with a control group of 21 workers not exposed to pesticides, from the Nextipac community in Jalisco, Mexico. The exposed group showed acute poisoning in 20 percent of the cases.<ref>Payán-Rentería, R. et al. 2012. Effect of chronic pesticide exposure in farm workers of a Mexico community. Arch. Env. Occupational Health 67: 22-30</ref>▼ ▲Over the past quarter-century, water quality and pesticide issues affecting farmworkers in Mexico have been identified in peer-reviewed literature. The following examples are of interest, but are not necessarily broadly representative. In the Mezquital Valley of central Mexico, in the early 1990s, about 85,000 acres were irrigated with wastewater. A study of the implications found that important outcomes were diarrheal disease and parasitic infections in farmworkers and their families.<ref>Cifuentes, E. et al. 1993. Problemas de salud asociados al riego agricola con agua residual en Mexico. Salud Publica de Mexico [1993, 35(6):614-619]</ref> Pesticide issues were investigated in 200 farmworkers in a small area of northwestern Mexico in the 1990s. Of those workers, 59% could read at the third-grade level, few had received information about pesticides; 30% did not wear personal protective gear; and 20% had experienced acute [[pesticide poisoning]] at least once during the season investigated.<ref>de Jesús Chain-Castro, T. et al. 1998. Pesticide poisoning in Mexican seasonal farm workers. Int. J. Occupational Env. Health 4:202-203</ref> A study was conducted comparing 25 farm workers engaged in pesticide spraying with a control group of 21 workers not exposed to pesticides, from the Nextipac community in Jalisco, Mexico. The exposed group showed acute poisoning in 20 percent of the cases.<ref>Payán-Rentería, R. et al. 2012. Effect of chronic pesticide exposure in farm workers of a Mexico community. Arch. Env. Occupational Health 67: 22-30</ref> [[File:" 13 - ITALY - soy farm - BIO ITA - soybean field organic agricolture in Veneto.jpg\|thumb\|Organic soybean farm in Veneto, Italy]] ===In the European Union=== For the 27 member states of the European Union in 2009, 77 percent of the overall average agricultural labor force was family members; however, in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Estonia, family members were not predominant in the agricultural labor force. Hired labor accounted for more than half of the total (hired plus family) labor in the horticulture sector. In the 27 states, the average wage of farm workers was €6.34.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rica/pdf/EU_farm_economics_2012.pdf\|title=EU farm economics 2012\|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> In 2010, there were estimated to be about 25 million agricultural workers, including farm family members, in the EU-27 states; many were part-time workers. The full-time equivalents were estimated to be about 10 million.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rural-area-economics/briefs/pdf/08_en.pdf\|title=How many people work in agriculture in the European Union?\|access-date=2019-11-12}}</ref> ==Careers== The share of employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing in total employment declined globally by 13 percentage points between 2000 and 2021, to 26.6 percent. Yet, agriculture remains the second largest source of employment worldwide after the services sector.<ref name=":14">{{Cite web \|title=World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023 {{!}} FAO {{!}} Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations \|url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en \|access-date=2023-12-13 \|website=FAODocuments \|language=en \|doi=10.4060/cc8166en}}</ref> Many programs exist, such as World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms ([[WWOOF]]) that facilitate the placement of volunteer farmworkers on specific types of farms. Additionally, farms may offer apprenticeship or internship opportunities where labor is traded for the knowledge and experience gained from a particular type of production.▼ ▲Many programs exist, such as World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms ([[WWOOF]]) that facilitate the placement of volunteer farmworkers on specific types of farms. Additionally, farms may offer apprenticeship or internship opportunities where labor is traded for the knowledge and experience gained from a particular type of production. In the United States, formal, or registered, apprenticeships offer competitive wages as well as classroom education in addition to on-the-job training, and are governed by state regulations that ensure minimum standards for wages, education, and training programs are met, in contrast with many informal farm internships which may only offer room and board as compensation and may not primarily benefit the intern. ==See also== ▲[[File:Old woman cleaning olives.jpg\|thumb~~\|left~~\|Old woman cleaning olives]] * [[Agroecology]] * [[Farmer]] Line 99 ⟶ 105: ==References== {{Reflist\|2}} ==Sources== {{Free-content attribution \| title = World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023 \| author = FAO \| publisher = FAO \| documentURL = https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en?details=cc8166en \| license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/whttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:World_Food_and_Agriculture_-_Statistical_Yearbook_2023.pdf \| license = CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 }} ==Further reading== Line 118 ⟶ 134: [[Category:Agricultural occupations]] [[Category:Agricultural labor]] [[Category:Farmworkers\| ]]