As the Trump administration considers curbing immigration to protect American jobs, Driscoll\u2019s stands to lose a sizable proportion of its labor force if the H-2A visa program is cut and could see lower berry output from its U.S. farms. Because of berries\u2019 short picking window and the intensity of labor required for the harvest process, even a week or two of labor scarcity could cause large-scale waste and rot on Driscoll\u2019s farms. Under such circumstances, Driscoll\u2019s would be unable fulfill its obligations to its grocery store customers and consequently to anti-oxidant lovers like me.<\/p>\n
Produce Woes: <\/strong>In addition to its dependence on foreign labor, Driscoll\u2019s grows about half of its produce across the border in Mexico. Two decades ago, Driscoll\u2019s decided to extend its planting season by moving south of the border, where berries could be grown countercyclically and then exported to the U.S. during winter months [1].<\/p>\n Figure 1: Sample Growing Regions and Timeline for Driscoll’s Strawberries [3]<\/em><\/p>\n Because of similar actions by other U.S. farmers and the freedom provided by NAFTA, the U.S. fruit imports from Mexico have increased significantly, per the example of strawberries below:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Figure 2: U.S. Strawberry Imports from Mexico, 2006\u20132016 [4]<\/em><\/p>\n However, President Trump has hinted at tariffs of up to 20% to penalize Mexican goods imported into the U.S. to fund the proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border [5]. Under such a policy, Driscoll\u2019s might reduce the load of Mexican berries it imports in the winter months, since its cash flows would be negatively impacted by the additional costs imposed by the tariff. In an alternate scenario, even if the company were able to pay the tariff to import the same quantity of berries as in the pre-tariff era and passed on the price increase to consumers, it could see decreased demand, and thus a negative impact on cash flow.<\/p>\n So, what are they doing\u2026?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n In the medium term, Driscoll\u2019s is attempting to improve the harvest process by growing berries in substrates that can be raised to waist level [6]. This makes the berries quicker and less physically-taxing to pick, making the otherwise labor-intensive jobs more attractive to domestic workers and potentially increasing the company\u2019s labor pool.<\/p>\n In the longer term, Driscoll\u2019s is partnering with a company called AgroBot to build a robot to automate the berry-picking process, thus reducing the need for both foreign and domestic labor [6]. The future technology could be even more powerful if it can be combined with substrate-grown berries which are inherently easier to pick.<\/p>\n And what could they do\u2026?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear how the company is addressing the threat posed by proposed tariff; I believe Driscoll\u2019s (and other U.S. farms with Mexican operations) could lobby to ensure that the tariff isn\u2019t imposed by highlighting the higher prices that U.S. consumers would have to pay for produce. In addition, current headlines about immigration reform have mostly addressed illegal immigration, but it\u2019s unclear what the path forward will be on visa programs that allow seasonal workers to work legally for Driscoll\u2019s. As such, proposed lobbying could also ensure that temporary agricultural workers are included in protected visa categories under the reform, helping to prevent labor-led supply interruptions.<\/p>\n If the 20% tariff is imposed, Driscoll\u2019s could export its Mexican-grown berries to alternate markets if evidence shows that demand is sufficient in such areas [7]. With China\u2019s growing importance to global trade, for example, it\u2019s not a stretch to imagine that it could absorb some of Driscoll\u2019s otherwise U.S.-bound exports, assuming transportation costs aren’t prohibitive.<\/p>\n What else? <\/strong><\/p>\n Can Agrobot\u2019s robots truly replace or supplement human labor in a short while, given that they are currently \u201cmissing 1 in 3 berries\u201d after years of development? [8]. In addition, has Driscoll\u2019s considered adapting its berries species to improve their ability to grow in the winter, which could mitigate import-related risk during that season?<\/p>\n Word Count: 795<\/p>\n References<\/p>\n [1] Charles, Dan. 2017. February 16. Accessed November 11, 2017. https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/thesalt\/2017\/02\/16\/515380213\/why-ditching-nafta-could-hurt-americas-farmers-more-than-mexicos<\/a>.<\/p>\n [2] Driscoll’s, Inc. 2017. Where We Grow. Accessed November 11, 2017. https:\/\/www.driscolls.com\/about\/art-of-growing\/where-we-grow<\/a>.<\/p>\n [3] Whelan, Robbie. 2017. “U.S. Demand for Mexican Laborers Jumps — In the first nine months of fiscal 2017, number of mostly Mexican workers rose by 20%.” Wall Street Journal, August 9.<\/p>\n [4] Foreign Trade Division, U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. RELATED-PARTY TRADE DATABASE. Accessed November 13, 2017. https:\/\/relatedparty.ftd.census.gov\/<\/p>\n [5] Gillespie, Patrick. 2017. “A 20% Mexico tariff would pay for the wall. But it would hurt Americans.” CNN, January 26. Accessed November 13, 2017. http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/2017\/01\/26\/news\/economy\/trump-mexico-tariff\/index.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/11\/Driscolls-Image-2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Figure 3: Waist-level substrate strawberries [6]<\/em><\/p>\n
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