Climate change is deterring farmworkers from following the harvest to the Pacific Northwest

Priscella Vega reports for the Los Angeles Times on the movement of farm workers between California and the Pacific Northwest--in particular how migration north is being diminished because heat in Washington and Oregon are making those less desirable places for workers to be.  An excerpt quoting a few experts follows: 

Edward Taylor, distinguished professor at UC Davis’ Agriculture and Resource Economics department, said to his knowledge there isn’t a study that statistically links harvest migration to extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest. But he found it interesting and worth studying because whatever makes migration less attractive makes people migrate less.

Taylor conducted research in Mexico that showed extreme heat “significantly” drove migration out of rural communities and into other parts of Mexico and the United States.

“I can imagine in this context that anything would make farm work less pleasant than it already is,” said Taylor, who also serves as director of the Center on Rural Economies of the Americas and Pacific Rim at UC Davis. “It would simply compound this big picture we see happening out there. Fewer farmworkers. Less and less are willing to migrate to follow the crop.”

“We can ban pesticides, but we can’t ban hot weather,” said Dr. Marc Schenker, distinguished professor emeritus of public health sciences and medicine at UC Davis and founding director of the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety. “We can’t regulate Mother Nature.”

But the heart of Vega's piece is the story of Enedina Ventura, a farmworker, and her family. She is based in Fresno, but made the seasonal journey to Oregon for years.  

Here's an NPR report from September, 2021, about the impact of heat on farmworkers in California.  Here's a story about the impact of climate change in Oregon.