Latine Farmworker Recruitment and Community Wellbeing in Ohio

Commodities

Practices

Agricultural systems in the US have long relied on flexible low-wage (usually undocumented immigrant) labor to meet needs at peak points during the season, with little consideration for the impacts of this low wage labor on the farmworkers who make it possible. Undocumented migration into the United States is now net negative. To meet the challenge of decreasing worker availability, utilization of the H-2A temporary worker program has grown substantially in the United States. H-2A workers and non-H-2A workers face different challenges in navigating life in rural communities. The rural communities these groups settle in are also impacted. As the United States transitions from a largely undocumented but settled farm labor force to one which has legal work status but is temporary, it is important to better understand the social and economic impacts of this shift on farmworkers and the communities in which they settle. Accordingly, this project aims to analyze the different effects on community wellbeing based on the degree to which a community relies on H-2A or non-H-2A laborers. It builds on a body of rural sociological work which has documented community wellbeing in response to changes in the role of immigrant labor. This study asks: 1) How does farmworker and community wellbeing differ depending on the mix of labor recruitment by H-2A or non-H-2A pathways? 2) How can communities and immigrant support organizations improve the wellbeing of workers and communities?

This study will compare three rural communities in Ohio which rely on differing levels of H-2A and non-H-2A farmworkers. The study will be conducted over 11 months, from September 2024 until August 2025. It will utilize a mixed methods approach, combining interviews with 36 farmworker and key community informants with quantitative data available from the American Community Survey and local community statistics. Findings will be shared through summary fact sheets, presented to local audiences in person and online, at an academic conference, and in a journal publication. It will be evaluated through collaboration with the Ohio Immigrant Worker’s Project, presentation attendee feedback, and use of the outputs. Overall, this project will highlight the lived experiences of Latine and non-Latine farmworkers and community members in rural areas of Ohio which utilize substantial numbers of agricultural laborers. By utilizing a community wellbeing framework, this project will incorporate aspects of social and economic wellbeing into its analysis, informing efforts among rural communities to adapt to changing patterns of migration.

This project will fill existing knowledge gaps regarding the way different farmworker recruitment strategies influence social and economic sustainability outcomes for individuals and rural communities. In doing so, it will center the lived experiences of the Latine farmworkers who are critical to agriculture and the wellbeing of rural communities, and the non-Latine individuals experiencing community change. It will also improve understanding of the way H-2A and non-H-2A workers interact when they are working side by side in rural communities.

The results from this project will be shared with community leaders and non-profit organizations in Ohio to inform decision-making as the prevalence of H-2A workers grows. The results will highlight options available to rural communities to develop programming that reduces the negative outcomes of these different migration pathways and maximizes their individual and community benefits. In doing so, this project also aims to inform national immigration debate by documenting how these two migration regimes play out on the community level in driving social and economic sustainability outcomes.

To ensure outcomes are realized, evaluation feedback will be collected following the presentation of results to each target community. These evaluations will indicate the degree to which attendees plan on implementing changes based on project findings. Finally, this project’s community partner, the Immigrant Worker’s Project, will be consulted throughout the research process, to gauge to what degree findings are actionable.