I found this article interesting, written in human-interest style, telling us
of ways the dairy industry seeks to "bridge" the cultural and economic divide
between American business and workers from outside the USA. The article covers
what may be something larger happening in this period of homeland security. It
speaks of entrepreneurial action (the cross-border program) and American "can-
do" culture in difficult times. Does the effort bring improvement with it?


“U.S. Farmers Trace Mexican Workers' Lives” By Cara Anna - The Associated
Press, January 16, 2006 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011600090.html

Castorland, NY (AP) -- Kerrie Baker's two Mexican employees live above her
dining room. They don't speak English and she knows about 30 words of Spanish,
but they get by with smiles and the occasional visiting interpreter to the
remote, upstate New York dairy farm.

So when Baker said she was leaving for Mexico last month, the men didn't quite
believe her. Then she returned with photos of their mountain village, and even
of one man's startled mother. When the woman realized who Baker was, she
started crying and said, 'Take care of my baby.'

Baker and other farmers aren't waiting for Congress to take up immigration
reform this month - they're crossing the border to understand the issue by
visiting the far-flung homes of their employees.

But they don't go just for charity, says Wisconsin dairy farmer John Rosenow.
Instead, the trips are an investment in a new kind of worker they hope won't
disappear.

Hispanics make up about 40 percent of all U.S. agricultural employees based on
2004 census figures, the Pew Hispanic Center said.

But the interest comes from the newest farmers hiring Mexicans, the dairy
farmers along America's northern edge. A Cornell University survey said 72
percent of the largest farms in New York, the third largest dairy-producing
state, hired their first Hispanic employee since 2000.

Overwhelmingly, the farmers said their biggest problem was in understanding
their new workers, with 96 percent noting the language barrier. More than half
also mentioned cultural concerns.

A new Cornell project and a Wisconsin-based nonprofit program called Puentes,
or Bridges, cater to dairy farmers, though similar cross-border programs for
farmers or agricultural leaders exist in Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Bruce Goldstein of the Washington-based Farmworker Justice Fund says the visits
are fine but the real test is whether wages and working conditions improve. The
Cornell survey said the average Hispanic dairy worker gets $7.51 an hour.

Cornell took its first group of farmers across the border last month, bouncing
in vans an hour past the paved road to a central Mexican village.

'Down there, they're grinding out a living the way we used to farm in this
country 70 or 80 years ago,' said Thomas Maloney, the Cornell extension
associate who arranged the trip. 'Believe me, once you go and see it, you
understand why people travel 3,000 miles for a job.'

Baker returned to her farm on just west of the Adirondacks with stories of
Mexican cows producing just eight pounds of milk a day, compared to more than
70 pounds from her own. When she asked local students how many had relatives in
the U.S., more than half raised their hands.

'That was the best $900 I could have spent for my dairy farm,' Baker said.
Inspired, she'll start a new language course called Dairyman's Spanish in the
spring.

Rosenow, of Waumandee, Wisconsin, said he's helped place Mexicans on dozens of
farms after the first one he hired worked 54 days straight, 'with no
complaint.'

Rosenow has crossed the border three times with Puentes. He remembers visiting
a former employee who had used his U.S. earnings to build a bakery. 'I didn't
have a clue,' Rosenow said. 'I thought he'd want to live here (in America)
someday.'

Now Rosenow asks his workers what they need to learn. He's taught a business
course and a driving class, and his farm set up a banking system where workers'
families in Mexico can access the money with ATM cards.

'Anything I can do to make things better for my employees will make this
business run better,' said Rosenow, who now works about 70 hours a week instead
of 90 or 95.

And after explaining to workers how higher-quality milk gets a better price,
his farm makes $1,200 to $2,000 more a month. The money goes for bonuses on top
of workers' $375 weekly salaries.

At Baker's house, 22-year-old Gabriel Monfil Arcos and 27-year-old Juan Arcos
Garcia prepare for the midday milking of more than 300 cows. Garcia says he's
surprised but happy 'la patrona' made the journey.

Downstairs, the men look through Baker's photos of Mexico. After a few minutes,
she says, 'Tell them I want to give them a bonus for Christmas. I've never done
that before. Tell them it's because they're special.'

She waits for the translation and, soon enough, the smiles.