Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
e. 2. An assessment of the agricultural activity in the State means: 1) Identifying the top five labor-intensive crops, the months of heavy activity, and the geographic area of prime activity; 2) Summarize the agricultural employers’ needs in the State (i.e. are they predominantly hiring local or foreign workers, are they expressing that there is a scarcity in the agricultural workforce); and 3) Identifying any economic, natural, or other factors that are affecting agriculture in the State or any projected factors that will affect agriculture in the State
Current Narrative:
1. The current identified top five labor-intensive crops, months of heaviest activity and geographic locations are:
- hay and hay products-May through September- Jackson, Greenbrier, Preston, Hampshire and Mason
- grain, dry beans and peas-April through October- Mason, Jefferson, Hardy, Preston, Pendleton, Wood, Randolph, Berkeley and Monroe
- nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod-February through June-Mason, Putnam, Mercer and Raleigh
- fruits and, berries—May through October -Jefferson, Berkeley and Morgan
- vegetables, melons, potatoes and sweet potatoes-July through Early September- Jefferson, Mason and Cabell
2. As the scarcity of farm workers persist, agricultural employers continue to utilize family and friends at small to medium farms. However, large agricultural employers rely on the limited local domestic farm workers many who are older and may choose to work on a part-time schedule. Additionally, it is getting more difficult for employers to obtain foreign workers at the time they are need them. There are tighter border controls and delayed processing times for H2-A workers. Employers complain that foreign workers delayed arrivals and some early departure times are interfering with the employer’s ability to ensure that all required work is completed. Although some of the large farms are equipped with advanced technology to assist in day-to-day operations, most farm work remains labor intensive and requires the “hands on” application.
Each year agricultural employers must rely on acquiring agents to file their applications with Department of Labor and the process is costly. So, the employer must determine if it is financially prudent for him/her to invest in getting foreign workers who may or may not arrive when they are needed. Their major concern is how will investing in obtaining foreign workers impact their bottom line or return on investment.
3. Current or projected economic, natural and other factors affecting agriculture:
- Climate changes will continue to impact state agricultural production. Extreme temperatures have been experienced in the Eastern Panhandle where the fruit matured early and there was an insufficient number of labor ready workers available workers to harvest the fruit. Employers lost their products and associated revenue.
- Agricultural employers realize that to be competitive they must extend the growing seasons using high and low tunnels which will allow them to grow their products inside with protection from the weather changes. This is an additional expense for equipment and more workers are needed.
- A few agricultural employers found a way to increase revenue by adding hemp to their farm products and have started growing the plant legally for medical research purposes.
- The Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker population contains an increased number of foreign visa workers who are employed under the United States Department of Labor H-2A program.
- The aging population of the MSFWs is an issue because these males comprise the bulk of reliable knowledgeable farm workers.
- Lack of domestic workers means that employers will need to maintain approved housing and safe reliable transportation to meet the needs of foreign workers.