by Micky Ellenbecker, Purchasing Assistant
A migrant worker is defined as a seasonal worker that is unable to return to their place of residence within the same day. Wisconsin started relying on a migratory workforce in the early 1900s when farmers recruited people of European descent who lived in low-income communities in midwestern cities. By the 1920s, migratory workers of Hispanic descent became very common and Wisconsin peaked at about 15,000 migrant workers in the 1950s. This goes to show that Wisconsin’s reliance on a migrant workforce to fill vacant farm jobs is nothing new. And if the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that some jobs are far more essential than others, jobs that are important at keeping our basic needs met. While immigration is undoubtedly a hot-button topic, it cannot be denied that our food system would nearly come to a complete halt without the migrant workforce that operates behind the scenes to keep not only Wisconsin farms running smoothly, but farms throughout our entire country.
To illustrate this point, I talked with Richard DeWilde of Harmony Valley Farm in Viroqua, Wisconsin, to give us a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to work alongside and reply upon a migratory field crew. Richard has been farming for more than 40 years, and he said it’s always been a challenge to find dedicated crew members. In 1998, he hired a handful of people from Mexico, and he was very impressed with their skills and dedication to do the work. One aspect of that initial experience stood out to him though. One of these men had a four year-old daughter back in Mexico who he had never met. Richard couldn’t quite understand why that would be, but the man eventually implied his documents may have been good enough to get hired at Richard’s farm, but probably not good enough to get him back and forth across the Mexican border to visit his family. Richard didn’t like the idea that someone could go years without meeting their own children, so he decided that going forward they would make sure all their crew members had the necessary work visas and therefore the right to travel back and forth to visit loved ones. This started him down the path of the H-2A visa program.
The H-2A visa program allows American farmers to fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries, and this particular visa is specific to seasonal and temporary agricultural work. As you can imagine, it is a very challenging process with a lot of paperwork, rules and red tape, but Richard and his partners are dedicated to the task in order to keep their farm fully staffed and running smoothly. They start by showing there is a need for non-domestic workers, and that they aren’t taking jobs away from US citizens. They advertise their 40+ positions via state job orders that illustrate they provide furnished housing, transportation and a set wage of $18.50/hr, all being minimum requirements of the H-2A visa program. Then they have to reapply for their crew members’ visas every year, and they are not allowed to do it earlier than 75 days prior to when they want their crew to return. So, like clockwork, they are getting their application in on January 16 to ensure their crew is back to start work by April 1. While their crew is back in Wisconsin, there is at least one inspection by the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to ensure housing meets fire and safety needs, as well as ensuring there are enough beds, linens, chairs, plates, etc. for every individual. The DWD performs such inspections for every farm participating in the H-2A program to ensure migrant workers are being treated humanely, not because they expect each farm to take advantage of their workers, but because historically many migrant farm workers have been taken advantage of and treated very poorly. There are also avenues for the H-2A workers to file complaints regarding their employment and housing situation, which the DWD then follows up on their behalf.
But let’s go beyond the red tape. Over the years, Harmony Valley Farm has built a dedicated crew of 40+ individuals that migrate back and forth to Mexico every year and primarily stem from two different families. Some of their crew members have been coming back to work at Harmony Valley Farm for 20-25 years, and the Cervantes family even has three generations working at the farm. Richard said it very much feels like one big extended family that enjoys working together and that also enjoys each other’s company after all the work is done for the day. He said overall it’s a very positive crew that genuinely seems happy to be here. They also hire interpreters at times to assist with translations when they don’t want there to be any confusion about new protocols, food safety regulations, etc. One of these same interpreters also offers English lessons to the crew nearly every Sunday for those who want to learn.
Several years ago Richard started contemplating what would happen to the farm when he was ready to retire. After all his years dedicated to organic farming, he wanted to see his farm carry on even after he was gone. He couldn’t envision his life’s work ending with a farm auction, so he started the process of shifting the farm to an LLC, which would allow for an easy process of bringing on additional business partners. Now Harmony Valley farm is owned jointly between Richard, his partner Andrea, and their newest partner Rafael. Rafael started working at the farm via the H-2A visa program in 2009 and has been there ever since. He stood out to Richard as the crew member who learned the fastest, could fill any role on the farm, and had a genuine interest to learn more. Richard has now sponsored Rafael and his family for permanent residency visas. Rafael has been a resident for about five years and his wife and children have been residents for three years. They have become part of the community, with their kids enrolled in public school and their eldest daughter heading off to UW-La Crosse this fall. Overall, Rafael’s partnership ensures another generation will carry on the mission of Harmony Valley Farm.
Rafael isn’t the only crew member who has prospered from working at Harmony Valley Farm. Many of them have been able to build new houses for their families back in Mexico; many don’t need to work when they return to Mexico during the winter months and can spend that time with family and friends; and others have even used their savings to start their own businesses back home. It has allowed all of them to earn a much higher income than would be available to them in Mexico and now they can afford to fly home during the growing season for important family events, such as the birth of a child, with the assurance they can return to their job here in Wisconsin due to their H-2A status.
I talked to Richard a few days after they had thrown their annual crew appreciation party. They rented the local park for the party, which includes activities such as volleyball, soccer, frisbee, smashing a piñata, and of course lots of food with goat tacos being the most popular. I also want to express our appreciation from the staff at Willy Street Co-op for the extremely hard working crew at Harmony Valley Farm and all the migrant workers who are essential in putting delicious and nutritious food on our tables. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
