Gov. Nathan Deal on Tuesday offered what he called a “partial solution” to Georgia’s farm labor shortage: put people on criminal probation to work picking fruits and vegetables in South Georgia.
The Republican governor’s idea is drawing concern from the head of the American Probation and Parole Association and getting mixed reviews from farmers and their organizations, who have complained that a new immigration law was scaring away migrant farmworkers they need.
Deal outlined his proposal the same day his office released the results of a state survey of farmers showing they have 11,080 jobs open, which is about 14 percent of the full-time positions that are filled annually. Deal asked for the survey last month.
None of the survey questions, however, mentioned the immigration law, House Bill 87, and the survey results don’t indicate what could be causing the labor shortage. Deal didn't mention the law in a prepared statement his office issued about the survey results Tuesday. And Republican Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, whose agency conducted the survey, didn't mention the law's impact on the farm labor shortage in a letter he sent with the survey results to the governor Friday.
The labor shortage is potentially putting hundreds of millions of dollars in crops at risk, say state agricultural industry leaders.
Proponents of HB 87 say they hope the law, which is scheduled to take effect July 1, will deter illegal immigrants from coming here and burdening the state's taxpayer-funded public schools, hospitals and jails.
State officials, meanwhile, said they don’t have any figures to compare today’s farm labor shortages with what was going on in Georgia’s $69 billion industry the same time last year. But having 11,080 open farming jobs is a cause for concern, given that Georgia food and fiber farmers produce 81,000 full-time equivalent positions annually, said John McKissick, who teaches and researches agricultural economics for the University of Georgia.
Farmers have been warning this problem could reach metro Atlanta as the labor gap could boost prices in local grocery stores. And some say the trouble with finding farmworkers could be a harbinger of shortages in other metro Atlanta industries that depend on Hispanic workers. That could drive up costs for construction work, restaurants, tourist spots and landscaping.
Also on Tuesday, the state filed a motion to dismiss a federal class-action lawsuit civil liberties and immigrant rights groups filed this month to block the enforcement of Georgia’s new immigration law. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit argue the law is pre-empted by federal law and is unconstitutional. State lawmakers deny those arguments, saying they crafted the law so it would withstand court challenges.
As for filling the farm labor gap, Deal said in a statement Tuesday that there are 2,000 unemployed probationers in southwest Georgia who might be able to help.
“I believe this would be a great partial solution to our current status as we continue to move towards sustainable results with the legal options available,” Deal said.
State law allows the court to require that as a condition of probation in Georgia, people "work faithfully at suitable employment insofar as may be possible," but state officials cannot force them to choose specific jobs.
Gary Paulk, co-owner of a family-owned blackberry farm in South Georgia, expressed irritation with Deal’s proposal Tuesday.
“I think it is kind of unfair to say, ‘Well, these are farm jobs. Let’s put these people out there,’ when there are jobs in Atlanta,” said Paulk, who said he served as Deal’s Irwin County gubernatorial campaign chairman. “Could they be a cook in the Governor’s Mansion? That’s my point. I get tired of agriculture being the red-headed stepchild.”
Still, Paulk said he is open to the idea of having probationers work on his farm. He said his family farm has lost about $50,000 in blackberries this year because of labor shortages he partly blames on Georgia’s new immigration law scaring away his migrant Hispanic workers. The farm is now short between 75 and 100 workers, he said.
“I wouldn’t have a problem working those individuals,” Paulk said of the probationers. “Scared to use them? No. The logistics of getting them here, et cetera -- that might be a problem.”
Farm jobs could help probationers pay for some living expenses, child support and restitution, said Carl Wicklund, executive director of the Lexington, Ky.-based American Probation and Parole Association. But many of these positions are temporary, so they may not be the best way to go for probationers seeking to get back on their feet, avoid becoming repeat offenders and find full-time jobs and benefits, Wicklund said.
“I’m not sure it is necessarily preparing them for a workforce that is requiring more and more technological skills,” Wicklund said. “It sounds like a stopgap measure to me, not a long-term solution.”
But probationers have been working on farms in Georgia for some time, said Drew Chestnutt, the chief state probation officer for the Tifton Judicial Circuit and the president of the Georgia Probation Association.
“It’s a great idea to try to put this into action, and I hope we can be successful with it,” he said. “Probationers work on farms all the time, and it is a good source of income this time of year.”
Bryan Tolar, president of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, and Jon Huffmaster, legislative director for the Georgia Farm Bureau, indicated they were open to Deal’s idea.
“We appreciate the governor investigating these different avenues,” Huffmaster said. “If there is something that can be done to help solve this problem, we are not going to throw off any of it.”
Farm labor survey results
The Georgia Agriculture Department surveyed farmers about their labor needs over 15 days ending last week. About 230 producers responded to the 11-question survey and reported they need to fill 11,080 jobs this year. The survey results show many farmers have fewer employees compared with last year:
The total number of current farm employees:
Employees/Percent of Producers/Total Producers
1-25/65.2%/152
26-50/13.3%/31
51-75/5.2%/12
76-100/5.6%/13
100+/10.7%/25
The total number of farm employees they had last year:
Employees/Percent of Producers/Total Producers
1-25/43.8%/102
26-50/15%/35
51-75/10.3%/24
76-100/7.7%/18
100+/23.2%/54
Source: Georgia Agriculture Department
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