Agricultural & Foreign Labor Services June News and Highlights

Did you know! Asparagus is one of the first crops harvested each year in Michigan and the majority of asparagus in Michigan is grown in the asparagus capital of the world – Oceana County. Asparagus season is already in full swing this year. In Michigan, asparagus typically begins early to mid-May and can last until mid to end of June, depending on the weather.

Unlike other crops, asparagus can take three years to go from seed to harvest! However, the plants will produce spears for decades, making it a great long term production crop. Unlike other crops, asparagus can only be hand harvested throughout the season, which it is quite labor intensive.

According to the AcreValue blog, asparagus is a big deal in Michigan and Oceana County is at the center of the green wave. The county contributes a substantial portion of Michigan’s asparagus production, highlighting its importance in the agricultural landscape. The fertile soils and favorable climate in Oceana County make it an ideal location for asparagus cultivation, which thrives here, producing bountiful crops that are both delicious and nutritious.

The Agricultural and Foreign Labor Services team within the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) welcomes farmworkers to Michigan at the annual Welcome Event, a significant and eagerly anticipated gathering.

Last year’s event drew more than 700 migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) and their families to the Van Buren Youth Fairgrounds to partake in this momentous occasion.

This year’s sixth annual event will take place on Saturday, June 29 from 12 - 4 p.m. at the Van Buren County Youth Fairgrounds in Hartford, Michigan. The event will involve state and community-based agencies, employers, and a dedicated team of more than 50 volunteers who generously volunteered their time to welcome MSFWs.

A big thank you to the many sponsors that contributed to this year's event!

Join Us

If you are interested in participating in the event, please contact Sandy Jimenez at 517-599-6808 or jimenezs@michigan.gov. Come join us for an afternoon of fun, prizes, employment and training resources, education services, food distribution, onsite health care services, free haircuts, and more!

We also need dedicated volunteers like you to make this event a success. If you are interested in helping, please sign up at https://forms.office.com/g/aeZh9u68Zh. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated.

Angie Gutierrez, the Van Buren Migrant Program Director invited Agricultural Employment Liaisons Jesus Lule and Clarikssa Mejia to attend a recent Parent Regional Meeting. Jesus and Clarikssa addressed migrant families who attended in person from Berrien, Cass and Van Buren counties. They also connected virtually with migrant families who represented the migrant program from all over Michigan.

Their successful collaboration with the VBISD and the Migrant Education Program provided the group with employment services and information on training opportunities. This collaboration resulted in several registrations and an opportunity to follow up with other MSFWs to provide employment services.

For Jesus and Clarikssa, the highlight of the meeting was running into William, a past participant. William is featured on the front page of the Farmworker Legal Services calendar, and he was very excited to share that the photo was taken while he was picking apples in northern Michigan.

Thanks to this successful collaboration, our staff contacted 200 MSFWs at the meeting, and we anticipate this partnership to continue throughout the year.

With increased reports of avian influenza in Michigan, our Agricultural Employment Liaisons (AELs) actively engage with various workgroups to address these concerns and obtain prevention materials in Spanish and English to distribute to workers and farm owners. These workgroups consist of health organizations across the state, including the Michigan Departments of Health and Human Services, and Agriculture and Rural Development.

The dedicated team of AELs is diligently preparing to disseminate crucial information on avian influenza and other health issues to agricultural workers or direct them to the appropriate agencies for further assistance. Considering recent reports of a second human case of bird flu, there is a heightened sense of urgency to promptly inform the public, especially MSFWs who may face barriers to accessing this critical information, particularly in their preferred languages. More information regarding the human case of bird flu can be found in this article.

Additional resources related to Avian Influenza:

• MDARD - Avian Influenza webpage
• Avian Flu and Your Safety: Guidance for Dairy Workers
• Risks of consuming raw (unpasteurized) milk and milk products
• CDC Bird Flu Current Situation Summary
• FDA Egg Safety Q&A
• New Actions to Reduce Impact and Spread of H5N1

SeasonalJobs.dol.gov is an online platform that links people to seasonal and temporary employment opportunities throughout the United States.

Whether you’re looking for seasonal work or require a short-term job, the website assists you in finding suitable employment.

State Monitor Advocate (SMA) Gerardo Aranda was invited to present at this year’s Planting Seeds Conference in Kearney, Nebraska. Aranda and Nebraska SMA Aaron Moreno met at various National Monitor Advocate trainings. Their conversations surrounded the topic of the stream of migrant workers from south Texas moving to the West, Midwest and Northeast in the mid-60s, something Aranda has personal experience with. As a child of migrant farmworkers, Aranda’s family traveled from Weslaco, Texas to Scottsbluff, Nebraska to hoe sugar beet plants.

The conference was held in person for the first-time since the COVID-19 pandemic and was attended by nearly 100 people from different organizations that serve MSFWs in the state of Nebraska.

Dr. Athena K. Ramos of the University of Nebraska delivered a presentation on the services her team provides to MSFWs. Aranda provided the keynote address and spoke of the struggles many south Texas farmworker families faced enroute to different states to harvest fruits and vegetables. The Nebraska MSFW service organizations were thankful Aranda made the trip to provide them some history and discuss future collaboration.