We on the Northampton Agricultural Commission act as an advisory group to the City Council and residents of Northampton on agricultural land use and policy.
We are all farmers — both conventional and organic — who farm right here in Northampton. Our mission is to promote and support agriculture in Northampton and beyond, and especially to help support the next generation of farmers in the Pioneer Valley.
Recently the Northampton City Council passed a resolution in support of the Fairness to Farmworkers Act in the Massachusetts State Legislature. The specifics of the bill are still being negotiated on Beacon Hill, but if passed, the act will require farmers to pay farmworkers the standard minimum wage and pay overtime after a certain number of hours.
We understand and respect our legislators’ desire to raise the wages of Massachusetts farmworkers. However, we would like to elaborate on parts of the legislation that might have some unintended consequences and put Massachusetts farmers at a significant competitive disadvantage.
First, Massachusetts farmworkers work incredible hard and we want them to be protected by state law and earn at least the minimum wage. When farmers find individuals who work well on the farm, they do everything possible to retain them. The vast majority of farmers in Massachusetts pay their workers at least the minimum wage and more. This past growing season most farmworkers made $15 or more per hour.
Additionally, many of the growers who need to...
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