Located in:
- Program-Specific Requirements for Wagner-Peyser Program (Employment Services)
All Program-Specific Requirements provided for the WIOA core programs in this section must be addressed for either a Unified or Combined State Plan.
e. 1. Assessment of Need. Provide an assessment of the unique needs of farmworkers in the area based on past and projected agricultural and farmworker activity in the State. Such needs may include but are not limited to: employment, training, and housing.
Current Narrative:
Agricultural Outreach Plan (AOP)
Assessment of Need
Assessment of Agricultural Activity in the State
According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the agricultural industry in Florida employs approximately two million people and contributes more than $120 billion to the state’s economy. An estimated 47,500 commercial farms in Florida produce nearly 300 different commodities on 9.7 million acres. In 2018, Florida ranked first in the United States in the value of production for processing cucumbers, grapefruit, citrus, squash, sugarcane, and fresh market tomatoes. During the 2017-2018 season, Florida farmworkers produced 49.6 million boxes of oranges and 3.88 million boxes of grapefruit. Production decreased for all citrus varieties when compared to the previous season. Florida ranks second to California in the production of fresh market vegetables. Florida growers harvested vegetables for fresh market potatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries and blueberries from 208,000 acres in 2018. Cash receipts for all agricultural products totaled $7.64 billion in 2017. Crop commodities, such as oranges, greenhouse/nursery, sugarcane and tomatoes, accounted for 77.0 percent of these total cash receipts.
According to USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Florida Field Office, 2017 Annual Statistical Bulletin, some pre-harvest activities such as planting, transplanting, tying, staking and pruning are performed by farmworkers, as well as post-harvest activities such as packing and juice processing. In 2018, Florida ranked second nationally in the production of bell peppers, fresh market sweet corn, strawberries, fresh market snap beans, fresh market cucumbers and watermelons; third in the production of fresh market cabbage; and fourth in the production of peanuts and sweet potatoes.