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. Top Five Labor Intensive Crops, Heavy Season and Location of Crops
According to the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Missouri ranks second in the nation in the number of farm operations. Missouri’s crops, livestock processing and other agricultural sectors account for over $16 billion per year. The top five labor-intensive crops for Missouri are: apples, grain, watermelon, cotton and grapes. A majority of the heavy activity occurs in the months beginning as early as March and continuing through October. The main geographic areas of prime activity are in the Southeast, West Central and Southwest Local Workforce Development Areas.
2. Agricultural Employers’ Needs
The Office of Workforce Development’s (OWD) Agricultural Employment Service (AES) staff strive to work closely within the agricultural sector to identify the needs of farmers, producers and agricultural businesses and to provide assistance to fulfill those needs. Currently, the biggest factor affecting agriculture in Missouri is a reliable, qualified workforce. The new generations of previously migrant families seek employment in industries outside of agriculture, creating a shortage in available workers. Many of the farmers, producers and agricultural businesses have the desire to increase their production, but are held back from expanding due to the lack of farm workers. Therefore, Missouri employers and Farm Labor Contractors are increasing their labor force by hiring foreign workers on an H-2A temporary, agricultural visa. Agricultural employers using this H-2A visa program seek guidance with labor law compliance.
3. Factors affecting agriculture in the state
Missouri agriculture is impacted greatly by weather conditions including rainfall, drought and temperatures. Pestilence and disease are continuous factors creating field crop problems. Missouri has a number of opportunities for agricultural producers to research and explore solutions through the University of Missouri Extension Services and the Department of Agriculture. Often quickly identifying a problem and finding a solution to remedy the problem can prevent negative impacts to crops. As producers find better ways to grow their crops they have seasons that require additional labor. During peak harvest season it is important to have access to a strong agricultural workforce that can assist producers in garnering the greatest yield from their crops.