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.