Each year, thousands of migrant* Latino farmworkers journey from the Southwestern United States, North of Mexico, and Latin America to Minnesota in order to make a living in the picking and processing of the state’s crops, and to work in the ornamental plant industry. Attracted by the comparatively higher wages that families can find in the north, workers spend several months of the year contributing to the state’s sweet corn, green pea, and other agricultural economies. In fact, in the south-central portion of the state alone, researchers have estimated that the Latino labor force employed in agricultural industries adds almost $25 million dollars to the local economy (Kielkopf 2000).

While their labor is clearly a vital component of Minnesota’s agricultural economy, migrant farmworkers must navigate perilous terrain in the search for housing during the working season in the fields and processing plants. For decades, social service workers, local and national media, political activists, and the general public have called attention to the dearth of housing options available to seasonal workers and, once housing is secured, the sometimes terrible conditions in which they are forced to live. Even with such awareness, this report finds that conditions have persisted or worsened in recent years in Minnesota and that migrants seeking housing for the season often find themselves with a dismal set of housing options.

This report is the result of a collaborative study examining the current housing conditions for migrant workers in four counties in south-central Minnesota during the 2001 season. It blends quantitative and qualitative findings to reflect the tensions that arise between an economic sector that relies heavily upon the work of migrants at the same time that it fails to provide them with resources that will secure adequate provisions to meet basic human needs. Investigators accomplished this by surveying 282 migrant farmworkers in order to identify the challenges that they face as they migrate north for work each season.