Young farming couple dives into their profession without hesitation, but fear of labor shortage cutting off their future

11:30 Update: Professional tomato farmers looking for help! The farmer says: "Our family is looking for tomato-picking partners. If any friends know people living near Yuanchang or Beigang in Yunlin, please help introduce them to us, please please. Please contact farmer Wu Ruijuan: http://bit.ly/2ipDx2O

Location: Xizhuang Village, Yuanchang Township, Yunlin County
Hours: 0700-1100, 1300-1700
Pay:
Highly skilled: 200 yuan/hour
Experienced: 150 yuan/hour
No experience: 133 yuan/hour
Notes:
1. No meals, no lodging, please clock in and out.
2. Please provide your own transportation
3. Lunch break available at the packing house
4. After training, 150 yuan/hour once you can work independently within 1-2 weeks
5. For labor and health insurance, please join a union

Farming carries big risks and requires battling the heavens. Under such objective conditions, a young farming couple with no money, no land, and no experience - the "three nothings" - Wu Ruijuan and Yang Zhongjin, dived in without hesitation. What exactly is agriculture's charm? Frankly, they say: "We believe that if farming is run well, it can be profitable and passed down." But the labor shortage also makes this young farming couple pessimistic about the future. Yang Zhongjin says that if the labor shortage worsens further, it will effectively restrict farmers to small-scale subsistence operations, and they will not dare to expand their area. This is not just a personal loss, but will also bring about the decline of the industry.

Young farmer: If the labor shortage is not solved, agriculture will decline

Wu Ruijuan says that in this process, many farmers have the ability to increase profits through technology and quality improvement, yet they remain unable to expand their area simply because they are stuck on the labor shortage. Yang Zhongjin says that if the labor shortage worsens further, it will effectively restrict farmers to small-scale operations. On top of that, in recent years the government has continuously encouraged young people to return home to farm, but has not worked hard to expand export markets. As a result, unless returnees can produce and sell on their own, when production volume becomes excessive and they can only sell to wholesale markets, cherry tomatoes will begin to collapse just like cabbage, dragon fruit, and other items. When prices sell poorly, or are left to supply and demand or natural disasters to decide, "it will become very difficult to make a living as a full-time farmer in the future."

Wu Ruijuan says many people believe that opening agriculture to foreign laborers will lead farmers to continuously expand their operating area, causing overproduction and a price collapse, but agriculture is a commercial activity, and it is normal for people to enter because they are making money and leave because they are losing money.

She reminds that the government should place more trust in new farmers with professional knowledge and frontline workers at improvement stations. Taiwan, China has many agricultural products with export potential, such as pineapple sugar apple and others, yet because of the labor shortage farmers do not dare to boldly increase their area, and traders are unwilling to easily invest. What the government can do is help open channels for agricultural products through state-to-state dialogue, especially communication on quarantine issues, rather than constantly restricting the natural development of the industry. In the end, restricting it will only bring about the decline of the industry.