We hear in the media that, to afford fruits and vegetables, agricultural workers must be paid poverty wages and therefore we "need" illegal immigrants to do this work. This is false.

We hear in the media that companies can't afford to pay higher than poverty wages to agricultural workers. We hear they "need" illegal immigrants to do this work because, if producers pay decent wages, we won't be able to afford farm produce. The argument goes on to say Americas won't do those jobs because they can only be done at such low pay.

This goes virtually unquestioned, but none of it's true. It's so generally accepted that I was initially shocked at the truth: farm workers could be paid ten times as much, over $125,000/year, and the increase in price for tomatoes would 16 cents/lb and for apples 12.3 cents/lb.

Here's the explanation, but first here's some data on wages for picking tomatoes and apples.

In Florida many tomato pickers have not had a pay raise in over 20 years. They earn between 40-50 cents for each 32-pound bucket they pick. And they can pick 4000 lbs/day; that's 2 tons. Amazing. Simple arithmetic reveals that a worker is paid $0.50 / 32 lbs = 1.6 cents/lb, $62.50/day (for an 8 hour day), or a full-time rate of $12,500/yr (assume 200 work days in a year).

For picking Granny Smith apples a husband-and-wife team can fill a 900-pound bin in half an hour. The pay is $12 dollars/bin. So workers are paid $12 / 900 lbs = 1.3 cents/lb, $96/day, or a full-time rate of $19,200/yr.

Here's more simple arithmetic. For tomatoes, paying 10 times as much, adding 12.4% (6.2% each for employer and worker) Social Security, would mean ($5.00 * 1.124) /  32 lbs 17.6 cents/lb. That would be (17.6 1.6) = 16 cents/lb extra.

Similarly, for Granny Smith apples, paying 10 times as much gives ($120 * 1.124) / 900 lbs = 15 cents/lb. That would be (15 2.7) = 12.3 cents/lb extra.

If, at these wages, tomatoes and Granny Smith are $1.99/lb, then paying ten times greater wages would result in the price of tomatoes going to $2.15/lb and apples going to $2.12/lb.

Would shoppers stop buying tomatoes and apples at those increased prices? No.

Would you have plenty of people willing to pick tomatoes and apples at pay rates of $125,000/yr or $192,000/yr? You betcha. 

The scare-mongering, "Oh my God, we won't be able to afford fruits and vegetables if we pay decent wages," is unwarranted.

Note on farm policy, "free trade" agreements, and poverty wages in America:

While this relates to illegal immigration, it's not the main issue here. Illegal immigration is the result of a combination of Farm Policy Failure and "free trade" agreements like NAFTA.

It also relates to why there are such low wages in America anyway. Such low wages are made possible by maintaining vastly more people needing work than there are jobs. See also Unemployment: Official, Effective, Real and sections of Response to a Conservative.