PALISADE — When Thomas Cameron began farming as a seasonal peach picker in Palisade, he worked alongside crews primarily composed of Spanish-speaking migrants from Mexico and Central America. That’s why, when he started his own farm, he named it Rancho Durazno, which is Spanish for “peach farm.”
“(Spanish-speaking migrants) continue today to do the majority of that hard labor to produce the peaches here in our valley and across the United States,” said Rancho Durazno co-owner Gwen Cameron, Thomas’ daughter.
Rancho Durazno on Friday hosted U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who spoke about U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) efforts and programs to improve the working conditions and treatment of migrant farm workers across the nation.
Vilsack announced that the USDA was awarding $50 million to 141 farms in 40 states and Puerto Rico through the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP Program), which aims to improve the country’s food supply chain by addressing agricultural labor challenges and instability, strengthening protection for farm workers and expanding legal pathways for labor migration.
“I think I can make the case that this is a day in celebration of nutrition security because of the fruits and vegetables that are being produced and other farm products that are being produced through the hard work of farm workers and farmers across the country,” Vilsack said. “I think this is a day that acknowledges the important role of the USDA working in partnership with farmers to address the challenges of climate change and to ensure there is ample fruit and vegetable production in this country. I think it’s a day where we acknowledge the equity that’s at stake here.”
The USDA and Rancho Durazno share the same mission, as Rancho Durazno last summer became the first Colorado farm to join the Fair Food Program, a human rights movement that emphasizes accountability and cooperation to raise the bar for the treatment of farm workers who drive the nation’s fruit, vegetable and dairy production.
PROGRAM REWARDS
Rancho Durazno received $100,000 from the USDA on Friday for its participation in the FLSP Program, which will only further encourage the farm to pay close attention to the needs of its workers. Multiple Spanish-speaking farm workers with the ranch provided their own testimonies before Vilsack spoke.
“The USDA took a similar approach (to the Fair Food Program) in creating the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot, providing accountability and meaningful financial support to farms working to make significant improvements in the lives of their workers,” Gwen said.
Vilsack said a common theme in his conversations with farmers around the country is a shortage of available labor. He said Friday’s announcement “adds to the toolbox” of opportunities for farming families, even if he acknowledged that there is “much, much, much more” that needs to be done to address labor in U.S. agriculture and maintain the nation’s status as a food-secure country.
He also noted that American farms have become more dependent on migrant workers over the course of the 21st century, stating that the total of individuals benefiting from the H-2A (Temporary Agricultural Workers) program has increased from 48,000 in 2005 to 378,000 in 2023. The USDA hopes the FLSP Program will provide an alternative, as farmers face challenges when it comes to fully utilizing the H-2A Program, such as unpredictable and inconsistent wage levels and a lack of protections or standards to ensure proper working conditions, payment and benefits for farm workers.
The USDA designed the FLSP Program after the Senate rejected the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) last year that would have provided a clearer path to citizenship for migrant workers, crafting the program to address similar needs.
“(Migrant farm workers) come here for one very simple reason: because they want to take care of their families,” Vilsack said. “They want to make sure that their families are well-cared for, which is really an amazing thing when you consider that they’re often separated from their families in the work that they do. … They work for and with American farmers, who themselves are an amazing set of people.”
The USDA used resources from the American Rescue Plan Act to develop a model for improving nationwide conditions for farm workers and increasing the farm workforce. The resulting FLSP Program, which creates a structure for ethical recruitment of farm workers, will increase the collaboration between the USDA, farms and farm workers.
There are three levels of the FLSP: a basic level (which sees farmers commit to ethical treatment of workers and participate in some USDA research programs), a silver level and a platinum level (both of which include more targeted recruitment of workers from nations where there’s significant need, farms’ willingness to enter collective bargaining agreements with workers, and farms willing to make additional commitments beyond wage such as housing opportunities or overtime pay).
“The thought was that most folks would apply for the basic pilot. There were 381 applications initially received, which exceeded our expectations, as we were able to score 312 of those applications,” Vilsack said. “Out of 141 awards, only five were the base, 85 adopted the silver standard and 51 applied for platinum. This says a great deal about the farmers and ranchers who are participating in this program. They understand the significance and importance of raising the bar and the standard.”
Vilsack pointed out that this program will impact about 11,000 farm workers. More than 60% of Friday’s awardees are farms with fewer than 25 workers, meaning the FLSP Program is focused on smaller to mid-size agricultural entities.
COLORADO FARMS AWARDED
In addition to Rancho Durazno, 10 other Colorado farms and farmers, including a small handful on the Western Slope, were awarded:
The Western Colorado Producers Association in Olathe received $1.2 million;
Bookcliff Farms in Palisade received $100,000;
Colorado Vineyard Specialists in Palisade received $200,000;
Topp Fruits in Hotchkiss received $100,000.;
Aspen Moon Farm in Longmont received $400,000;
Black Cat Farm in Longmont received $400,000;
Fitch Ranch in Parshall received $200,000;
Jace Ficken in Kirk received $200,000;
KB Custom Ag Services in Ault received $720,000;
Red Wagon Organic Farm in Longmont received $100,000.
USDA awards to Colorado farms totaled $3.72 million, with just over 32% of those awards going to the Western Colorado Producers Association. These dollars will help fund the worker-driven Social Responsibility Enhancement Project, which will improve working conditions and worker protections, increase resources for more than 200 farm workers, and secure local food production with “a strong and consistent labor force”, per a USDA release.
