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Wages, Mechanization, and Employment in Harvesting Florida Tomatoes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Glenn A. Zepp*
Affiliation:
National Economic Analysis Division, Economic Research Service, USDA, stationed at the University of Florida

Extract

Two events are occurring which could have a profound effect on the Florida tomato industry. One is the development of a technology for harvesting fresh-market tomatoes mechanically. The second is the development of wage legislation affecting farm workers. This paper is an attempt to evaluate the effect of different minimum wage levels on the rate of adoption of mechanical harvesting, and the subsequent effect on employment and earnings in the tomato industry.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1973

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References

[1]Brooke, D. L., Labor and Material Requirements for Vegatable Crops, FloridaAgr. Expt. Station Bui. 660, Jan. 1963.Google Scholar
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[3]Crill, Pat, et al., Florida's First Machine Harvest Fresh Market Tomato, Florida Agr. Expt. Sta. Cir. S-212, Sept. 1971.Google Scholar
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[6]U.S. Dept. of Labor, Hired Farm Workers, Washington, U.S.Government Printing Office, 1972.Google Scholar
[7]Zepp, Glenn A., Effects of Harvest Mechanization on the Demand for Labor in the Florida Tomato Industry,Econ. Report 49, Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Florida, Gainesville, June, 1973.Google Scholar