Page 38 - Farm and Food Policy Strategies for 2040 Series

The robot’s ultimate long-term application, which is still about two to three years out, is
weed control. “Because weeds are becoming herbicide resistant, growers are looking for
laborers to walk the field and pull weeds. That gets expensive, but ultimately, they can’t find the
people to do that,” notes Soman. “This will kill weeds without using chemicals. We are working
with weed scientists and organic growers to come up with a possible mechanism to kill weeds
when they are small.”

Aside from the row crop sector, drones are also being studied for their applications on ranches.
Jimmy Doyle, an extension agent for South Dakota State University, says someday they could be
used to monitor large tracts of rangeland and pastureland, water tanks, and animal counts.

“It can really shorten the labor requirements on the rangeland and pasture monitoring side,”
Doyle said. While ranchers typically don’t need as much hired help as other sectors of
agriculture, the labor shortage has hit them as well, Doyle noted. “If a ranch is now spending a
couple of hours a day looking for strays, or checking water tanks, they could put more energy
into work that impacts their bottom line”—and pay higher wages to retain more qualified
workers if drones are adopted.

Farmers will also likely need to adopt technological innovations that fall short of full
mechanization to increase productivity and reduce the physical burdens on farmworkers,
according to ERS.

“Such changes permit farmworkers to remain productive at more advanced ages and expand the
scope of employment for female farmworkers. Examples of these less mechanized but still
significant advances include replacement of ladders in fruit orchards with hydraulic platforms
and reduction of the distance that harvested produce needs to be carried by hand by using mobile
conveyor belts.”

Will new technologies replace foreign-born labor?

No doubt, new technologies will be needed, developed, and adopted in order for U.S. agriculture
to remain competitive well into the future, but they are unlikely to completely replace the need
for foreign-born workers. According to a University of California report, Harvest mechanization
helps agriculture remain competitive, adopting mechanization can:

• Reduce costs per unit
• Contribute to the ability to expand total production volumes
• Provide a reliable, cost-effective replacement for the diminishing labor pool

For instance, tomatoes used for processing have been mechanically harvested since 1962.
Following the end of the Bracero program in 1964, which dramatically reduced the labor supply,
“262 harvesters came into commercial use the following season, harvesting 25% of the crop.
Four years later, 95% of the crop was harvested by machine,” allowing farmers to hire fewer
workers at higher wages, according to the University of California report.

Eventually, though, as growers and other ag sectors become more efficient and productive
through the use of the new technology, the need for workers expands, Slaughter notes. Thus,
while automation can reduce the need for labor, historically the reduction has proven somewhat
temporary.

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