Rural America lost more population in the latest census, highlighting an already severe worker shortage in the nation’s farming and ranching regions. Some industries are calling for immigration reform to help ease the problem.
In New Mexico, populations declined across 20 rural counties that stretch from the Great Plains at Oklahoma to the U.S. border with Mexico. Desperate for laborers for its annual chile harvest, the state this week pledged up to $5 million in federal pandemic relief to subsidize wages for pickers and workers at chile-processing plants — boosting available wages as high as $19.50 an hour.
The problem is just as bad for poultry farmers in North Carolina, where meat processors help power the economies of many rural counties. Half of the state’s 100 counties have lost residents since 2010, the census data showed. Bladen County, North Carolina, is home to the world’s largest pig slaughterhouse, Smithfield Foods’ Tar Heel plant. Between 2010 and 2020, the county’s population dropped by 15.9%. Bertie County, which is home to a large Perdue Farms poultry processing facility, saw a population decrease of 15.7%.
“These folks buy houses. They bring their families. They go to our churches. They earn money and spend it locally,” he said. “It’s really a win-win-win for these communities.”
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