Farm Labor Shortage in the Pennsylvania Mushroom Industry: A Gender-Sensitive Comparison of Farmer and Farmworker Perspectives^☆

U.S. farmers are facing a widespread labor shortage. Previous literature on the causes, mostly written by agricultural economists, has focused on the macro-economic and political factors that have reduced the traditional agricultural labor supply from rural Latin America. In this article, we present a sociological approach that probes the settlement of immigrant farmworkers in rural communities and their associated family responsibilities as possible contributing factors to the farm labor shortage. We conducted online questionnaires with 23 mushroom farm and packing plant representatives and structured interviews with 105 women and men workers in the Pennsylvania mushroom industry. Our findings suggest that if compensation and scheduling were more amenable to raising families, the labor shortage would be less acute. Moreover, workers, particularly women, identified the need for more respectful treatment by their supervisors. We conclude that, while farm employers are taking measures to address these concerns, their efforts do not fully address the economic conditions and sense of disrespectful treatment that may contribute to the labor shortage. As a result, farm employers feel forced to turn to labor contracting services, whose practices may exacerbate the vulnerability of mushroom workers.