Farm Labor Shortage Drives Higher Food Prices Nationwide

The current farm labor shortage is impacting production across America. Grow It Here, a coalition of US farmers focused on advocacy and education, hosted a webinar on the impact of the labor shortage and its effects on food prices. “When you have a decrease in the labor supply, that’s going to put upward pressure on farm wages,” says Michigan State Assistant Professor of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics Zach Rutledge. “It’s going to reduce domestic production and reduce the supply of goods that are produced here in the US, and ultimately, when we look nationally, a reduced supply of production means will put upward pressure on food prices. When you have a ten percent reduction in farm employment, that causes an almost three percent increase in food prices in aggregate across the US.”