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This study examines the impact of E‐Verify adoption on the total number of farm workers, total acres of operated farmland, and farm wages. This article finds that states with a high E‐Verify enforcement level experiences a decrease in the total number of farm workers and the total acres of operated farmland, suggesting that farms reduced their production scales after E‐Verify. However, this study finds no E‐Verify impact on farm weekly wages. This result could be a result of crop mix shift. States that adopt more stringent immigration policies should prepare the farm sector for a variety of negative shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of the 2008 Legal Arizona Workers Act on farm wage, production mix, farm capital use, and agricultural innovation using the synthetic control method. The findings indicate that the law significantly reduced farm worker population in Arizona. Farm wage is not affected by the decreased supply of farm labor because farms in Arizona reduced labor‐intensive crop production. The agricultural sector does not increase the use of farm capital and experiences a decrease in profits. Moreover, this study finds no impact on agricultural patents and research funding in Arizona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour shortages have been a major challenge for U.S. agriculture. Migrant farm workers who constitute a crucial agricultural labour force across the country have experienced a notable decline in recent years. Using the Propensity Score Matching method, this study examines how public health insurance of the Medicaid programme affects the migration of farm workers of different legal statuses. Unlike citizen farm workers, permanent-resident and undocumented farm workers decreased migration across states due to the impact of Medicaid. The findings suggest that a more suitable health insurance design that does not disrupt farm workers' migration patterns during production seasons is needed to increase agricultural labour supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses effect of current economic situation on the farm sector's labor sourcing predicament. Topics include the COVID-19 pandemic imposed additional restraints and challenges on farm labor availability on an industry that has become increasingly dependent on foreign labor; the government issued travel bans, border entry restrictions; disruptions in travel and government operations have affected the inflow of foreign farm workers coming into the country under H-2A working visas.

This article examines the impact of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) on the farm occupation decisions of family labour in agricultural households. This question is studied at the individual level using the difference-in-differences model with the American Community Survey data from 2000 to 2010. We find that LAWA has significantly increased the probability of farm family labourers choosing agricultural occupations by 3–5.5 per cent and the impact is 11 per cent for non-Hispanic farms. This study suggests that stringent immigration laws could change the patterns of family labour use among US farm households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes issues related to U.S. hired farmworkers' utilization of health care services and their specific choices among health care provider and health bill payment method options. Using data from the National Agricultural Workers Surveys for the years 2000-2012, this article employs propensity score matching and probit estimation techniques to examine the health care utilization of hired farmworkers. This study's results indicate that undocumented hired farmworkers are 10.7 and 3% less likely to use U.S. and foreign health care, respectively, compared to documented farmworkers. Health insurance is found to significantly increase hired farmworkers' use of U.S. health care by 22.3%. Notably, compared to their documented working peers, undocumented workers are much less likely to patronize private clinics. They are even less likely to rely on migrant health centers even when these providers are their most viable sources of health care service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of employer-provided health benefits (EPHBs) on labor supply decisions of documented and undocumented farm workers. By establishing a significant linkage between EPHB and farm work decisions, this study provides important implications for farm employment retention and the financial sustainability of farm businesses.Design/methodology/approach Using data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey, objective (actual) and subjective (expected) employment data are used as outcome variables analyzed under an ordered probit model, with the data pre-processed using the coarsened exact matching method to reduce endogeneity issues within the estimation.Findings Results confirm the influence of EPHB on farm workers’ decisions to remain employed on the farm as well as on the duration of their farm employment. Comparatively, EPHB significantly influences undocumented farm workers’ decisions on actual employment duration and subjective working expectations while documented workers seem to ascribe less importance to EPHB in their farm employment decisions.Practical implications This study provides important financial and business viability implications as the value of farm labor services retained through EPHB can translate to high opportunity losses, if ineffective. Alternative labor-saving strategies, such as mechanization, can only potentially lead to serious financial challenges for agribusiness firms, especially small-scale farm operations. This study emphasizes the need for more effective employment retention incentives for the sake of sustaining farm business viability.Originality/value This study presents empirical evidence on the important influence of EPHB on farm employment decisions, especially those made by undocumented farm workers, that have not been extensively explored in literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]