american farmers have been complaining of labor shortages for several years.（美国农场主对劳动力短缺的抱怨已经持续很多年了。）the complains are unlikely to stop without an overhaul of immigration rules for farm workers.（如果没有给农场主一个彻底修改的移民法规，这个抱怨好像无法停止。）

congress has obstructed efforts to create a more straightforward visa for agricultural workers that would let foreign workers stay longer in the u.s. and change jobs within the industry.（国会阻碍了为农业工人创造更多直接签证的努力，这些努力包括让外国工人可以在美国待的时间更久和在行业内有更换工作的权利。）if this doesn’t change, american businesses, communities, and consumers will be the losers.（加入这种情况不改变，那么美国的商业、社团和消费者将会成为输家。）

perhaps half of u.s. farm laborers are undocumented immigrants.（可能一半美国农场的劳动力是没有证件的移民。）as fewer such workers enter the country, the characteristics of the agricultural

workforce are changing.（更少的此类工人进入美国，农业劳动力的特征正在发生变化。）today’s farm laborers, while still predominantly born in mexico, are more likely to be settled rather than migrating and more likely to be married than single.（现在农场的工人还是主要是在墨西哥出生的，他们更可能选择定居在美国而不是移民，他们更愿意结婚而不是单身。）they’re also aging.（他们正处于老龄化。）at the start of this century, about one-third of crop workers were over the age of 35.（在本世纪初，三分之一作物工人在35岁以上。）now more than half are.（现在已经超过一半了。）and picking crops is hard on older bodies.（对于年龄大的人来说，采摘作物是很困难的工作。）one oft-debated cure for this labor shortage remains as implausible as it’s been all along: native u.s. workers won’t be returning to the farm.（一个经常被争论的解决劳动力短缺的方法跟一直以来一样不合情理：美国本国劳动力将不会返回农场。）

mechanization isn’t the answer, either—not yet, at least. （机械化不是解决方案——至少目前还不是。）production of corn, cotton, rice, soybeans, and wheat

has been largely mechanized, but many high-value, labor-intensive crops, such as strawberry, need labor.（谷物、棉花、大米、大豆和小麦已经大规模机械化了，但是很多高价值、劳动力密集型作物，如草莓，就需要劳动力。）even dairy farms, where robots do a small share of milking, have a long way to go before they’re automated.（甚至在奶牛场，那里机器人智能做很少一部分工作，要实现自动化还要很长的路要走。）

as a result, farms have grown increasingly reliant on temporary guest workers using the h-2a visa to fill the gaps in the workforce.（因此，农场越来越依赖使用h-2a签证的临时工来填补劳动力的缺口。）starting around 2012, requests for the visas rose sharply; from 2011 to 2016 the number of visas issued more than double.（从2012年开始，这种签证需求激增；从2011年到2016年签证的签发数量翻了一倍多。）

the h-2a visa has no numerical cap, unlike the h-2b visa for nonagricultural work, which is limited to 66,000 a year.（h-2a签证没有数字限制，不像非农业工作签证h-2b一年限制6万6千人。）even so, employers complain they aren’t given all the workers they need.（即便如此，雇主们还是抱怨他们没有得到他们所需要的所有工人。）the process is cumbersome, expensive, and unreliable.（这个过程繁琐、懊悔且不可靠。）one survey found that bureaucratic delays led the average h-2a workers to arrive on the job 22 days late.（一项调查发现，官僚作风导致h-2a签证工人平均到岗时间延迟22天。）the shortage is compounded by federal immigration raids, which remove some workers and drive others underground.（联邦移民突击检查加剧了这类短缺，一些工人被清除了，而另一些工人转入了地下。）

in a 2012 survey, 71 percent of tree-fruit growers and almost 80 percent of raisin and berry growers said they were short of labor.（根据2012年的一项调查，71%的果树种植者和80%的葡萄干和浆果的种植者说他们劳动力短缺。）some western farmers have responded by moving operations to mexico.（一些西边的农产主已经做出了将农场移到墨西哥的回应。）from 1998 to 2000, 14.5 percent of the fruit americans consumed was imported.（从1998年到2000年美国人消费的水果中14.5%是进口的。）little more than a decade later, the share of imports was 25.8 percent.（十年多一点时间，进口的比例已经达到25.8%。）

in effect, the u.s. can import food or it can import the worker who pick it.（事实上，美国可以选择进口食物或者选择进口采摘的工人）

虽有至道，弗学，不知其善也。