Source: UC DAVIS, RURAL MIGRATION NEWS, 5/13/21


How many farm workers are there in each state? This is a surprisingly difficult question to answer. A farm worker is usually defined as a person who works for wages on a farm, whether for one day or for 365 days. There are many types of farm workers, from field workers who harvest crops for a few weeks or months to equipment operators and irrigators to supervisors, mechanics, and those who work with animals year-round.

Bottom up. The federal government distributes at least $1 billion a year to support migrant and seasonal farm workers (MSFWs) and their dependents, most via the Big 4 programs of Migrant Education, Migrant Heath, Migrant Head Start, and the National Farmworker Jobs Program. These programs serve a fraction of the MSFWs that are believed to be eligible for services. However, each program has a different definition of who is eligible for services, and each uses a different methodology to estimate the distribution of eligible MSFWs in order to distribute federal funds across states.

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