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    2. Understanding Current Labor Shortage and Mechanization in New Jersey Nursery Crop Operations

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Gohil, Hemant (author), Waller, Timothy (author), and Cabrera, Raul (author)
    Format:
    Journal Article
    Publication Date:
    2022-12-19
    Published:
    United States: Clemson University Press
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 206 Document Number: D12791
    Journal Title:
    Journal of Extension
    Journal Title Details:
    V. 60, N. 4
    Notes:
    8pgs, We conducted a survey of New Jersey’s nursery industry to understand the current levels of labor shortage, how this has affected specific tasks related to the production capacity of the industry, and the actual level of mechanization. Survey results identified priority areas needing mechanization. There is a need for greater mechanization in almost all areas of nursery production to reduce the reliance on labor and or improve the efficiency of labor. Other Implications related to Extension programming on nursery mechanization are also discussed.

    6. For whom will the crop be promoted? a search for gender equity along the grain-legume value chains in Uganda

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Okiror , J. J. (author), Twanza, B. (author), Orum, B. (author), Ebanyat, P. (author), Kule, E. B. (author), Tegbaru, A. (author), and Ayesiga, C. (author)
    Format:
    journal articles
    Publication Date:
    2021-10
    Published:
    Academic Journals
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Document Number: D12402
    Journal Title:
    Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
    Journal Title Details:
    V. 13 N. 4
    Notes:
    12 pages, There is growing interest in gender analysis and value chain analysis as tools for ensuring equitable participation in agricultural commodity markets. This study examined the gender factors that influence the patterns and levels of participation by women and men in grain value chains in Uganda. Data were collected from six districts in three regions of Uganda using qualitative gender tools. Findings show that marked division of labour along gender-lines happens at postharvest handling stages where threshing and winnowing is mostly done by women while men supervise storage and also control marketing and incomes. Division of labour is due to socio-cultural ascriptions to the sexes at community level with women having to work for longer hours than their male counterparts. Groundnuts were regarded as women’s crop while soya beans were for men. Regional variations were not significant but there were marked behavioral differences between the poorer and richer households across entire value chains from production to marketing with the poor exercising more caution during marketing to spread risks to the next harvest while the rich preferred one-time bulk sales. Specific interventions are needed to upgrade women participation in grain-legume businesses and scale-up labour saving post-harvest technologies especially draught animals, threshers, tarpaulins and hullers to ease drudgery on women and increase men’s participation.

    8. Golden ARC Award winner: feature writing

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Format:
    Journal article
    Publication Date:
    2020
    Published:
    USA: Agricultural Relations Council, New Prague, Minnesota.
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 202 Document Number: D11981
    Journal Title:
    ARCLight
    Journal Title Details:
    Fall
    Notes:
    Via online issue. 1 page., Announcement and brief description of the award-winning ARC feature story, "Overcoming labor challenges," entered by Farm Credit East.

    9. Automated pastures and the digital divide: How agricultural technologies are shaping labour and rural communities

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Rotz, Sarah (author), Gravely, Evan (author), Mosby, Ian (author), Duncan, Emily (author), Finnis, Elizabeth (author), Horgan, Mervyn (author), LeBlanc, Joseph (author), Martin, Ralph (author), Tait Neufeld, Hannah (author), Nixon, Andrew (author), Pant, Laxmi (author), Shalla, Vivian (author), and Fraser, Evan (author)
    Format:
    Online article
    Publication Date:
    2019-02-13
    Published:
    Canada: Science Direct
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 7 Document Number: D10251
    Journal Title:
    Journal of Rural Studies
    Notes:
    11 pages., Via online article, A “digital revolution” in agriculture is underway. Advanced technologies like sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics are increasingly being promoted as a means to increase food production efficiency while minimizing resource use. In the process, agricultural digitalization raises critical social questions about the implications for diverse agricultural labourers and rural spaces as digitalization evolves. In this paper, we use literature and field data to outline some key trends being observed at the nexus of agricultural production, technology, and labour in North America, with a particular focus on the Canadian context. Using the data, we highlight three key tensions observed: rising land costs and automation; the development of a high-skill/low-skilled bifurcated labour market; and issues around the control of digital data. With these tensions in mind, we use a social justice lens to consider the potential implications of digital agricultural technologies for farm labour and rural communities, which directs our attention to racial exploitation in agricultural labour specifically. In exploring these tensions, we argue that policy and research must further examine how to shift the trajectory of digitalization in ways that support food production as well as marginalized agricultural labourers, while pointing to key areas for future research—which is lacking to date. We emphasize that the current enthusiasm for digital agriculture should not blind us to the specific ways that new technologies intensify exploitation and deepen both labour and spatial marginalization.

    10. Blueberry producers' attitudes towards harvest mechanization for fresh market

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    Collection:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC)
    Contributers:
    Gallardo, Karina R. (author), Stafne, Eric T. (author), Devetter, Lisa Wasko (author), Zhang, Qi (author), Li, Charlie (author), Takeda, Fumiomi (author), Williamson, Jeffrey (author), Yang, Wei Qiang (author), Cline, William O. (author), Beaudry, Randy (author), Allen, Renee (author), and Washington State University Mississippi State University University of Georgia University of Florida Oregon State University Michigan State University
    Format:
    Journal article
    Publication Date:
    2018-02
    Published:
    United States: American Society for Horticultural Science
    Location:
    Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 11 Document Number: D10337
    Journal Title:
    HortTechnology
    Journal Title Details:
    28(1) : 10-16
    Notes:
    7 pages., Via online journal., The availability and cost of agricultural labor is constraining the specialty crop industry throughout the United States. Most soft fruits destined for the fresh market are fragile and are usually hand harvested to maintain optimal quality and postharvest longevity. However, because of labor shortages, machine harvest options are being explored out of necessity. A survey on machine harvest of blueberries (Vaccinium sp.) for fresh market was conducted in 2015 and 2016 in seven U.S. states and one Canadian province. Survey respondents totaled 223 blueberry producers of various production sizes and scope. A majority (61%) indicated that their berries were destined for fresh markets with 33% machine harvested for this purpose. Eighty percent said that they thought fruit quality was the limiting factor for machine-harvested blueberries destined for fresh markets. Many producers had used mechanized harvesters, but their experience varied greatly. Just less than half (47%) used mechanical harvesters for fewer than 5 years. Most respondents indicated that labor was a primary concern, as well as competing markets and weather. New technologies that reduce harvesting constraints, such as improvements to harvest machinery and packing lines, were of interest to most respondents. Forty-five percent stated they would be interested in using a modified harvest-aid platform with handheld shaking devices if it is viable (i.e., fruit quality and picking efficiency is maintained and the practice is cost effective). Overall, the survey showed that blueberry producers have great concerns with labor costs and availability and are open to exploring mechanization as a way to mitigate the need for hand-harvest labor.