The Farm Labor Shortfall Bites

U.S. workers applied for only 182 of 415,000 jobs advertised last year

WSJ editorial. Excerpts:

"the Administration is quietly conceding that too few Americans want to work these grueling jobs, and that its policies risk driving up food prices."

It has "taken steps to make it easier and less costly for farmers to hire seasonal guest workers on H-2A visas. Last fall the department relaxed a Biden wage mandate that required farmers to pay guest workers on average $17.74 an hour—and as much as $19.97 an hour in California—in addition to providing housing and transportation."

"A Labor attorney told a federal judge last month at a hearing on the UFW lawsuit that “there aren’t enough Americans to take these jobs,”"

"High wage mandates have “not resulted in a meaningful increase in new entrants of U.S. workers to temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs.”"