Farm Labor Notes

Excerpts: Northeast Region: Dairy farms are among those hardest hit by the shrunken labor supply, both because their labor needs are more nearly constant through the year, and because the nature of the tasks involved makes it harder to train inexperienced help. [and] Three FSA migratory camps, all of the mobile type were in operation in New Jersey on July 11. --- North Central Region: There has been the usual worry about labor for the harvest season, particularly corn and small grain harvest. Programs for the exchange of labor and machinery are well organized and little loss of crops, due to labor shortages, has been experienced. --- South Atlantic Region: Concern was expressed that next fall might see a severe decrease in the usual migration of labor into Florida from Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina, because of the many local construction projects in these States. A drive to unionize the workers in Florida is expected; the packing houses are now fully organized. [and] The FSA migratory labor camp at Hendersonville [NC] has been so successful that growers in the area privately raised the amount necessary to double the capacity of the camp. --- South Central Region: As the wheat harvest rolls north from the plains of Texas, storage remains the pressing problem. Wheat has piled high on the ground of the panhandle of Texas and northwestern Oklahoma. --- Mountain Region: There is a shortage of seasonal farm and skilled get ranch labor. It is almost impossible to hire general farm hands and an increasing number of those now employed will be drawn into the army and war work. [and] Twelve FSA migratory workers camps, 10 of which were of the mobile type were operation in July, housing 505 families [Idaho]. --- Pacific Region: The greatest demand for seasonal labor is for the berry harvest. The usual source of supply, women, children, and townspeople has not been depleted. [and] Eight migratory workers’ camps, six of them mobile, were in operation in Washington on July 11. [and] California had in operation 17 FSA migratory workers camps in July, five of which were mobile.