National Farm Workers Day 2024: National Farm Workers Day is observed annually on March 31 to honour the unsung champions on a farm who are the hired labourers who perform the more difficult tasks, including ploughing fields, operating tractors, spreading fertilizer, and trimming hedges. A farm’s labour force plays a crucial role in bringing produce to maturity. They are paid low salaries and work day and night in a variety of climates, crouched on fields under the glaring sun. Farmers wouldn’t be able to cultivate, maintain, and harvest produce on such a vast scale if it weren’t for their tenacity and dedication. Therefore, on this day, we honour and thank all farmworkers for making it possible to deliver fresh produce to our tables despite increasing risks and difficulties.
HISTORY OF NATIONAL FARM WORKERS DAY
Colonial-era farm labourers endured terrible conditions in the fields. With few rights and no guarantee of eventual freedom, men and women were subject to slavery through force or deception. In the 1600s, plantation owners, in need of more farm laborers, began enslaving African immigrants using crueller techniques and with no prospect of freedom. Consequently, by the time of the American Revolution, approximately 20% of the population in the 13 colonies consisted of African American farm labourers.
It took 55 years, the American Civil War, and World War I to put an end to this involuntary servitude, despite the fact that the nation’s expansion halted agricultural slavery and the international slave trade.
After the American Civil War, California became the centre for the importation of Asian farmworkers. During the 1930s and World War II, the farmworker immigrants migrated to Mexico. Cesar Chavez, a Mexican-American community organizer, farmworker, and civil rights activist, cofounded the National Farm Workers Association, which is now known as the United Farm Workers, in the 1960s. The organisation fights for the rights of migrant farmworkers and accomplished its first objective with the five-year Delano grape strike, which eventually led to long-overdue wage increases for grape pickers on California grape farms.
National Farm Workers Day may be a single day honouring the tireless efforts of farmworkers, but it should serve as an annual reminder that farm labour is still taken for granted.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE NATIONAL FARM WORKERS DAY
Learn everything about farmworkers.
On National Farm Workers Day, make it your mission to learn about the struggles, difficulties, and abuses of local farmworkers.
Disseminate the word via social media
There is no instrument more effective than digital media. Utilize it to give a voice to the farmworkers, who perform the most arduous tasks of all American workers, yet continue to be shockingly underpaid. Use the hashtag #NationalFarmWorkersDay to discuss news, updates, and difficulties.
Make a contribution to the Farm Workers Association.
The National Farm Workers Association aims to empower farmworkers and enhance their quality of life. Donate to the organisation as a token of your appreciation for their efforts.
FIVE FARM WORKER FACTS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND
They are compensated in cents
In North Carolina, farmworkers are paid only one cent per pound of sweet potatoes harvested; they harvest more than 9,000 pounds per day.
Frequently, farmworkers are minors.
Children as early as six years old are employed in agriculture in North Carolina.
Many of them abandon their education
The farmworker adolescents have the highest rate of high school dropout.
High tuberculosis prevalence
The incidence of tuberculosis infection among farmworkers is significantly higher than among the general population.
Annually, more than 3 million agricultural employment
The shortage of farmworkers is real, as more than 550,000 U.S. farmers hire workers to cover more than 3 million farming jobs, but only 2.5 million U.S. farmworkers occupy these positions annually.
WHY NATIONAL FARM WORKERS DAY IS IMPORTANT
They are impoverished.
Farmworkers provide the nation with enough sustenance to export to other countries. Ironically, they have limited food left over at the end of the month because they have the lowest annual household income in the United States.
They are indispensable to us
We do not know what we would be consuming right now if not for the men and women who have chosen this field. It is possible to impair agricultural production by removing the labour input; therefore, farmworkers are essential to the entire industry.
They contribute significantly to the American economy.
Farmworkers without immigration status contribute more than $9 billion annually to the fruit and vegetable industry alone, both on and off the farm.
NATIONAL FARM WORKERS DAY DATES
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | March 31 | Friday |
| 2024 | March 31 | Sunday |
| 2025 | March 31 | Monday |
| 2026 | March 31 | Tuesday |
| 2027 | March 31 | Wednesday |
