| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
smallpoxgirl
Moderator
Joined: Nov 08, 2004
Posts: 5718
|
 Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 7:50 pm Post subject: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
  |
|
| Quote: | Short on Labor, Farmers in U.S. Shift to Mexico
...A sense of crisis prevails among American farmers who rely on immigrant laborers, more so since immigration legislation in the United States Senate failed in June and the authorities announced a crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants. An increasing number of farmers have been testing the alternative of raising crops across the border where there is a stable labor supply, growers and lawmakers in the United States and Mexico said... |
link
_________________
"So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power.
I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
RedStateGreen
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Sep 16, 2007
Posts: 1328
Location: Oklahoma City, USA
|
| Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:31 pm Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
I've been sitting here trying to figure out if this is good or bad. I should have seen this coming but it honestly surprised me to read it.
This is good in that food's not rotting in the fields while farmers try to find workers to pick it.
It's bad in that it's just one more outsourcing ... although it's not a big secret most farm workers are migrants anyways, not Americans.
One thing that is bad is that unless you live on the border, the shipping costs are going to be just that much more to get the food to the customers north of the border, which means higher food prices.
We just shoot ourselves in the foot over and over, don't we?
_________________
Conservation is conservative
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
manu
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 26, 2006
Posts: 753
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:23 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| Another reason to wake up and grow your own food! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tyler_JC
Moderator
![]()
Joined: Sep 25, 2004
Posts: 4542
Location: Boston, MA
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:42 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
Seems like the right time to invent the John Deere tractor of fruit/vegetable picking.
The South figured out a way to pick cotton without slaves, we can figure out a way to pick cucumbers without migrant workers.
Nobody bothered to build the machines when farm workers cost $4 an hour but now that farm wages will be forced up, the game changes.
If we continue to make farm labor more expense (scare off the illegals), farmers will be forced to invest in machinery to replace them.
It sounds like we are reaching that point.
_________________
"www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
smallpoxgirl
Moderator
Joined: Nov 08, 2004
Posts: 5718
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:48 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
I'm sure Monsanto will be happy to genetically engineer fruit and vegetables with the consistency of tire rubber so they aren't damaged by your machine Tyler. It'll be great for 5 years until we can't afford the diesel fuel for it.
_________________
"So while you sit and whistle Dixie with your money and your power.
I can hear the flowers a-growin in the rubble of the towers.
I hear leaders quit their lying
I hear babies quit their crying.
I hear soldiers quit their dying, one and all." - OCMS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
manu
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 26, 2006
Posts: 753
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 12:53 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| smallpoxgirl wrote: | | I'm sure Monsanto will be happy to genetically engineer fruit and vegetables with the consistency of tire rubber so they aren't damaged by your machine Tyler. It'll be great for 5 years until we can't afford the diesel fuel for it. |
Funny. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tyler_JC
Moderator
![]()
Joined: Sep 25, 2004
Posts: 4542
Location: Boston, MA
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:15 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
Who needs migrant workers when these machines can shake the orange tree and scoop up the oranges?
I think the farming lobby might be able to score some government subsidized fuel but that's obviously not a long term solution.
Maybe these things could be electrified? We'll find out soon enough.
_________________
"www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mos6507
Fusion
Joined: Aug 03, 2007
Posts: 3715
Location: Boston Suburbs
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:22 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| Relying on temporarily (i.e. soon to be deported) cheap labor is just as unsustainable as relying on temporarily cheap oil. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
manu
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 26, 2006
Posts: 753
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:52 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| The solution is to get up off your ass and go pick your own fruit. Oh, you live in a big city and its a long way to the country. Too bad, I told you to get out long ago. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nocar
Intermediate Crude
![]()
Joined: Nov 05, 2004
Posts: 680
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:34 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
In my vocabulary, those are agrobusinesses emigrating, not farmers.
nocar |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ferretlover
Moderator
Joined: Jun 13, 2007
Posts: 3633
Location: Minniesotuh
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:26 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
[quote="RedStateGreen"]This is good in that food's not rotting in the fields while farmers try to find workers to pick it.{/quote]
 Rotting food won't be a problem when food is scarce!
| RedStateGreen wrote: | | One thing that is bad is that unless you live on the border, the shipping costs are going to be just that much more to get the food to the customers north of the border, which means higher food prices. |
HHHmmm.. Guess all those predicting that it will be easier to survive in a city are...... WRONG
| RedStateGreen wrote: | | We just shoot ourselves in the foot over and over, don't we? |
And, using semi-automatic weapons to boot!
_________________
"RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Tyler_JC
Moderator
![]()
Joined: Sep 25, 2004
Posts: 4542
Location: Boston, MA
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:08 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| manu wrote: | | The solution is to get up off your ass and go pick your own fruit. Oh, you live in a big city and its a long way to the country. Too bad, I told you to get out long ago. |
So everyone in the cities is going to starve to death and you'll avoid all of the negative externalities of MegaDeath?
Give me a break.
Can you provide all of your own tools, medicines, energy, raw materials, expertise, etc. from your own little homestead?
The answer, of course, is NO. You're using a computer that you did not build yourself.
Interdependence isn't going away any time soon. If anything, high energy prices make interdependence even more common. (think public transit instead of private autos).
_________________
"www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RedStateGreen
Light Sweet Crude
Joined: Sep 16, 2007
Posts: 1328
Location: Oklahoma City, USA
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| Ferretlover wrote: | | RedStateGreen wrote: | | This is good in that food's not rotting in the fields while farmers try to find workers to pick it. |
Rotting food won't be a problem when food is scarce!
|
Well, that was the issue in the Depression. There was plenty of food, just no one could afford to transport it because they lost money on the deal. People starved in cities while crops literally rotted in the fields. 
_________________
Conservation is conservative
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Byron100
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Sep 08, 2005
Posts: 750
Location: Atlanta, GA
|
| Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:07 pm Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
Does anyone have any idea how high farm wages would have to rise if there were no illegals in the US? $15 an hour? $20, or how about $30? I'm sure there would be no problem getting a surplus of workers to pick the fruits and veggies...at the right price, that is. Isn't this how the "free market" system is supposed to work? Oh, wait, the capitalists don't like to suffer the consequences of their own economic laws, do they?
Oh well, guess we're all gonna have to starve. I just have a hard time believing humans are this stupid, though...
_________________
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide...
...and the meek shall inherit the Earth! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
manu
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Jul 26, 2006
Posts: 753
|
| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:41 am Post subject: Re: US Farmers Emigrate to Mexico |
|
|
| Tyler_JC wrote: | | manu wrote: | | The solution is to get up off your ass and go pick your own fruit. Oh, you live in a big city and its a long way to the country. Too bad, I told you to get out long ago. |
So everyone in the cities is going to starve to death and you'll avoid all of the negative externalities of MegaDeath?
Give me a break.
Can you provide all of your own tools, medicines, energy, raw materials, expertise, etc. from your own little homestead?
The answer, of course, is NO. You're using a computer that you did not build yourself.
Interdependence isn't going away any time soon. If anything, high energy prices make interdependence even more common. (think public transit instead of private autos). |
Yes, I can. I won't be on a computor. Interdependence may be there on a local scale, but not globally like it is now. Buy a horse. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
News
Discussions
Resources
Members
Forum FAQ
Search
Usergroups
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
