Declining Bee Populations And Labor Shortage Issues Affecting The Agriculture Sector

There are currently several issues plaguing the agricultural world. I chose to focus on two issues that I felt strongly affected the agriculture sector. The topics that I chose to focus on are declining bee populations due to insecticide use and labor shortage issues.

Bees are one of the most important resources in crop production. Unfortunately, their population has been steadily dropping for the past twenty years. Recently, they have been disappearing at an even faster rate. This event is known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). When this happens, almost all bees, except the queen, disappear. Research has linked the dropping numbers due to the use of a specific insecticide called neonicotinoids. Neonicotinoids were first used on crops in 1991. Today, this pest solution is used by majority of farmers in the United States due to its effectiveness. Some benefits of neonicotinoids include increased flexibility and efficiency. Before the use of neonicotinoids, farmers had to determine when to treat their crops based on weather. The use of this insecticide also prevents farmers from needing to spray crops several times. Neonicotinoids are also extremely versatile and can be used on a variety of different crops without damaging them. While efficient in controlling pests such as beetles and grubs, it is found to be harmful to bees. Use of neonicotinoids was noted to negatively affect bees over a decade later in the early 2000's. Beekeepers around the country reported losing nearly half of their bee population throughout the year without any reason as to why the bees were dying and disappearing. After looking further into the problem, scientists were able to trace the bee deaths back to crops that had been treated with neonicotinoids. While bees do not directly ingest the plants or the crops, they do ingest the pollen and nectar of effected plants.

Due to the way that this insecticide is applied, traces are deposited into the ground. Neonicotinoids are applied to the seeds of plants and are water soluble. This allows the effects of the insecticide to be passed on to surrounding plants. Not all bees that ingest the tainted nectar and pollen die. Some bees may show no effects, while others become paralyzed or disoriented. The rapid disappearance of bees is creating a major problem for the agriculture sector. If bee populations continue to decline, the United States could lose several types of crops. These crops include but are not limited to apples, almonds, berries, oranges, and canola fields. These crops require bee pollination in order for the plant to produce food. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, bees are currently responsible a minimum of fifteen billion dollars and maximum of twenty-seven billion dollars of crop yield per year. If population rates continue to rapidly decline, these numbers would drop greatly, in addition to losing a variety of crops.

Another topic that is currently causing concern in the agriculture sector is an increase in labor shortages. Recently, immigration enforcement has become stricter, and many farms are left with limited workers. This is due to the majority of farm workers coming from various other countries such as Mexico and are here illegally. Due to enforcement of the new policy in 2017, many immigrants have been deported back to their original countries at fast rates and high numbers, leaving farmers without help. In addition to stricter immigration policies, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) was cancelled in September of 2017. DACA protected children that were brought into the United States illegally, giving them education and the ability to work. Luckily, not all farms are affected by labor shortages. Farms that are smaller and rely mostly on labor are suffering more than those who rely on machinery. Organic farms are the most affected by this shortage due to crop requirements. While farmers have the option to use H2-A visas in these scenarios, they are also beginning to add to the shortage problem. H2-A visas allow farmers to bring in workers from other countries and temporarily employ them for less than a year. Unfortunately, there is a major backlog with processing these visas, and still leavers farmers without help. Since majority of the suffering farms are smaller, they cannot always afford to invest in new technology to replace their lost employees. Another issue with machinery is that it cannot always do the jobs that are needed. While this has caused issues for several farms around the country, there are several pros to the shortage and increase of immigration laws. The labor shortage has created several job opportunities for American citizens looking for work with fair wages. This is helpful for those who are unemployed and desperate for pay. While labor intensive, many of these jobs are available for seasonal positions and offered in a variety of places around the country.

Laborers are the backbone of agriculture, especially for smaller farms. While this shortage causes farmers' sales and businesses to suffer, it also greatly affects the agriculture sector. The loss of help causes problems for farms around harvesting season. If there are not people to tend to crops when it's harvesting time, then crops go to waste. This not only causes the farmer to lose out on potential profits, it causes him to spend money. If farmers are not able to harvest their crops, the total supply of these crops will decrease causing a shift in the supply curve. This shift will lead to an increase in price of these specific crops. These crops include apples, cherries, and tomatoes. If the supply of these crops continue to decrease, there could be a potential decrease in gross domestic product contributed by the agriculture sector.

In order to truly analyze the effects of bee mortality and labor shortages to the agriculture sector, I would use several resources in order to collect adequate data. To determine the impact of the decreasing bee population, I would first go to beekeepers in various areas of the country. I would gather data regarding their personal bee populations and if they had encountered colony collapse disorder within their hives. I would also gather data regarding the crops in the area to conclude if they were impacting the surrounding colonies. Another source I would go to for data would be the farmers in these areas. There, I would collect data regarding what type of insecticides that are used on their crops and how often they are treated. I would use a similar strategy in collecting data for the effects of labor shortages. Since the shortage heavily affects smaller farms, I would collect data from them first. Again, I would get data from various farms around the country to see if they are affected more in some regions compared to others. This data would include if the farms encountered a decrease in employment, the effects of it on their income, and if they were struggling to finding new workers. This data would assist in determining where in the country there are more shortages. After acquiring information on both subjects, I would begin my analysis. In order to do this, I would use comparative production analysis from prior years. By using this, I could see how the numbers were changing, if they were increasing or decreasing, and how drastically the number were changing.

While these issues have heavy impact, there are several solutions that could eliminate or lesson the effects. I predict that one possible outcome of the decreasing bee population will be the adoption of a different insecticides. Since neonicotinoids have many benefits, farmers will not want to adapt to a different insecticide. This is especially true if this insecticide is more expensive and requires more labor and treatments. The outcome for the labor shortage is not as simple. While there are ways to bring in workers, they can only stay in the United States for a limited time. I believe that the lack of farm laborers in the United States will cause farmers to raise their wages in order to attract workers. If these farms cannot afford to invest in machinery or to increase their wages, I believe that many farms will end up selling their land.

The agricultural world is faces several changing issues every year. The topics I focused on have caused issues for decades but have recently gotten worse at a rapid pace. The declining bee population due to insecticide use and labor shortage issues are causing problems within the agriculture sector, and have the potential to alter it in the future.