ZACHARIAH RUTLEDGE, PH.D.
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Research

Please Scroll Down for Links to My Research Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
"California Wine Growers’ Responses to Labor Shortages: Evidence from Survey Data," with Myat Thida Win and Tor Tolhurst. Journal of Wine Economics, 1-19. (2026).

"Immigration Enforcement and Farm Labor Disruptions: Survey Evidence from California Agriculture," with Myat Thida Win. Applied Economics, Education, and Extension, 8(4): 1-10. (2026). 

"Chinese Trade Competition and Rural Mexican Migration," with Joaquin Mayorga. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. (2026).

"Potential Wage Bill Implications of the New AEWR Methodology for H-2A Workers," with Philip Martin, Samantha Ayoub, and Michael Hall. Choices, 41(2). (2026).

"Proposed Farm Labor Reform and Legalization of US Crop Workers," with Skyler Simnitt, Clare McGrady, and Marcelo Castillo. Choices, 41(1): 1-10. (2026).

"Trump, Migration, and Agriculture," with Philip Martin. Choices, 41(1): 1- 11. (2026).

"California Farmers Are Turning to Nonfarm Employers to Fill Lower Wage Seasonal Jobs," with Brandon Hooker, Philip Martin, and Matthew Shiroi. California Agriculture: 1-9. (2025). 

"H-2A Adverse Effect Wage Rates and US Farm Wages," with Marcelo Castillo, Timothy Richards, and Philip Martin. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 108(2): 494-517. (2025).

"​Labor Shortages and Farmer Adaptation Strategies," with Myat Thida Win and Mywish Maredia. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, 47(3): 896-913. (2025). 

"Dollar Store Impact on Local Labor Markets and Retail Activity," with Lauren Chenarides, Timothy Richards, and John Pender. Food Policy, 132: 102827. (2025). 

"Health Coverage and Farmworker Productivity," with Timothy Richards and John Lowrey. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 108(1): 309-335. (2025).

"Trump 2.0 and Farm Labor," with Philp Martin. Choices, 40(1). (2025). 

"Labor Shortages and Agricultural Trucking Rates," with Timothy Richards and Marcelo Castillo. Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 72(2): 105-129. (2024).

"Whither the H-2A Visa Program: Expansion and Concentration," with Marcelo Castillo and Philp Martin. Choices, 39(1): 1-9. (2024).

"California Has 882,000 Farmworkers to Fill 413,000 Jobs," with Brandon Hooker, Philip Martin, and Marc Stockton. California Agriculture, 87(1): 22-29. (2024).

"More Jobs and Less Seasonal Employment in California Agriculture Since 1990," with Philip Martin. California Agriculture. (2023). 

"Food System Labor and Bargaining Power," with Timothy Richards. Food Policy, 119. (2023).

"Farm Labor Supply and Fruit and Vegetable Production," with Pierre Mérel. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 105(2): 644-673. (2022). 

"Economic Assimilation of Mexicans and Central Americans in the United States," with Giovanni Peri. IZA Journal of Development and Migration. (2022).

"Proposed Changes to the H-2A Program Would Affect Labor Costs in the United States and California," with Philip Martin. California Agriculture, 75(3):135-141. (2022).

"Viewpoint: The Future of Work in Agri-Food," with Luc Christiaensen and J. Edward Taylor. Food Policy, 99. (2021).

"Can Wages Rise Quickly Enough to Keep Workers in the Fields?" with Diane Charlton, J. Edward Taylor, and Stavros Vougioukas. Choices, 34(2). (2019).

"Innovations for a Shrinking Agricultural Workforce," with Diane Charlton, J. Edward Taylor, and Stavros Vougioukas. Choices, 34(2). (2019).


Book Chapters
"Farm Labor," with Florencia Colella. Michigan State University Extension Beginning Farmer Resource and Decision Making Tool. (2025)

"US Farm Employment and Farm Workers," with Philip Martin. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Food Studies. (2024).

"The Short-Run Impacts of Immigration on Native Workers: A Sectoral Approach," with Pierre Mérel. Chapter 6 in R. Sauer (Ed.), World Scientific Handbook of Global Migration. (2024).

"Economic and Societal Aspects," with J. Edward Taylor. Chapter 10 in S. G. Vougioukas and Q. Zhang (Eds.), Advanced Automation for Tree Fruit Orchards and Vineyards. (2023).

"Evolving Agricultural Labor Markets," with Diane Charlton and J. Edward Taylor. Chapter 77 in C. Barrett and D. Just (Eds.), The Handbook of Agricultural Economics. (2022).


Technical Peer-Reviewed Reports
"The H-2A Foreign Worker Program in 2020," with Philip Martin and Marcelo Castillo. USDA-ERS, Economic Information Bulletin. (2022).

"Federal Labor Standards Enforcement in Agriculture: Data Reveal the Biggest Violators and Raise New Questions About How to Improve and Target Efforts to Protect Farmworkers," with Daniel Costa and Philip Martin. Economic Policy Institute Report. (2020).


​Extension/Outreach Articles
"The Changing H-2A Program," with Philip Martin and Junjian Zhu. ARE Update, 29(6). (2026).

"Michigan’s H-2A Wage Offers in First Half of Fiscal Year 2026," with Junjian Zhu. Michigan State University Extension Article. (2026).

"Research Drill Down: Dairy Farm Labor Shortages and Adaptation Strategies," with David Ortega, Yingfei Xie, Anna Hooks, Barry Bradford, and Phil Durst. Michigan State University Spartan Dairy Newsletter. (2026).

"H-2A Changes Could Reduce H-2A Wages by $100 Million in 2026," with Philip Martin and Michael Hall. ARE Update, 29(4). (2026). 

"What the New AEWR Rule Means for Michigan's H-2A Employers," with Michael Hall. Michigan Ag Economist. (2026).

"Explaining the New H-2A Wage Rule for Michigan Growers," with Myat Thida Win. Michigan State University Extension Article. (2025).

"Michigan’s AEWR Could Change Under New Methodology." Michigan Farm News. (2025).

"How California Farmers Are Adapting to a Shrinking Labor Force," with Myat Thida Win and Philip Martin. ARE Update, 28(6). (2025).

"The Impact of Rising Labor Costs on Michigan's Specialty Crop Industry," with Steven Miller and Sarah Klammer. Michigan Ag Economist. (2025).

"Providing Farmworkers with Health Insurance is Worth it for their Employers − New Research," with John Lowrey and Timothy J Richards. The Conversation. (2025).


"An Overview of Farm Labor in Michigan," with Phil Kaatz, Emily Lavely, and Benjamin Werling. MSU Extension Article. (2025).

"President Trump and Farm Labor: The Outlook," with Philip Martin. ARE Update, 28(3). (2025).

"California Farm Labor Policy Update," with Clare McGrady and Philip Martin. ARE Update, 27(6): 1-4. (2024).

"Crunching Numbers on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act," with Clare McGrady. Michigan Ag Economist. (2024).

"The Farm Workforce Modernization Act and the H-2A Visa Program," with Steven Miller and Florencia Colella. MSU Extension Farm Management Series. (2024).

"What Are Adverse Effect Wage Rates?," with Steven Miller and Florencia Colella. Michigan State University Extension Farm Management Series. (2024).

"Policy Ideas to Address Agricultural Labor Issues," Michigan Ag Economist, 1: 3-4. (2024). 

"Michigan Dairy Labor Supply Pressures," with Phil Durst, Spartan Dairy News. (2023).

"Farm Employee Heat-Related Illness Prevention and Regulatory Compliance," Michigan Farm News. (2023).

"Understanding and Preventing Farm Employee Heat-Related Illness," Michigan State University Extension Farm Management Article. (2023).

"A Declining Farm Labor Supply Could Cost California Farmers Billions," with Pierre Mérel. ARE Update, 26(2): 1-4. (2022).

"Labor Standards Enforcement in California Agriculture," with Philip Martin, Daniel Costa, and Forest Peterson. Rural Migration News Blog No. 208. (2021).

"What Is the Future of Work in Agri-Food?" with Luc Christiaensen and J. Edward Taylor. Brookings Institution. (2020).

"Revisiting Economic Assimilation of Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States," with Giovanni Peri. Cato Institute Research Briefs in Economic Policy, No. 220. (2020).

"COVID-19 and Farm Workers: "Challenges Facing California Agriculture," with Timothy Beatty, Alexandra Hill, and Philip Martin. ARE Update, 23(5). (2020).

"Recent Mexican and Central American Immigrants Have Performed Well in the Labor Market, but There Is Room for Improvement." U.C. Davis Global Migration Center Immigration Facts Series. (2020).

"California Farmers Change Production Practices as the Farm Labor Supply Declines," with J. Edward Taylor. ARE Update, 22(6). (2019). 


Extension/Outreach Reports
"Dairy Farm Labor Shortages, Adaptation Strategies and Preferences for Workforce Policy Options," with David Ortega, Yingfei Xie, Anna Hooks, Barry Bradford, and Phil Durst. (2026).

"Findings from the California Farmer Immigration Enforcement Survey," with Myat Thida Win. (2026).

"2026 Michigan State University Custom Work Rates," with Steven Miller and Corey Clark. (2025). 

​"Analysis of the Effects of Reduced Domestic Farm Employment on Food Prices" Grow it Here Report. (2025).

"Summary of the 2025 Michigan State University Farm Labor Conference," with Myat Thida Win. AgEcon Search MSU-AFRE Staff Report Series No. 2025-006. (2025)

"Summary of the 2024 Michigan State University Farm Labor Conference," with Anna Hooks and Clare McGrady. AgEcon Search MSU-AFRE Staff Report Series No. 2025-002. (2025).

"Assessing the Impacts of the Loss of Specialty Crops in Michigan," with Chris Bardenhagen, Sarah Klammer, and Steven Miller. Michigan State University Extension Report. (2025).

​"2023 Michigan Greenhouse Extension Labor Survey: Summary of Findings," with Jeremy Jubenville, Clare McGrady, and Jaden Gimondo (2025).

"2025 Michigan State University Custom Work Rates," with Steven Miller and Corey Clark. Farm Management Report. (2024).

"Working with Agricultural Stakeholders To Understand and Address Labor Challenges." Michigan State University Extension Report. (2024).

"Michigan Greenhouse Labor Survey," with Clare McGrady. (2024)..

"Farm Labor Shortages, Their Implications, and Policy Options to Help Promote the Domestic Fresh Produce Industry." International Fresh Produce Association Report. (2024).

"The 2023 California Farmer Employment Survey Report," with Carrie Alexander and Sana Asghar. (2024). 

"The 2023 California FLC Employment Survey Report," with Carrie Alexander and Sana Asghar. (2024).

"Understanding and Addressing Agricultural Labor Challenges in the United States Conference Report," with Samuel Rickman. AgEcon Search AFRE Agricultural Economic Report Series. (2024).
​

"2023 Michigan State University Custom Work Rates," with Steven Miller, Corey Clark, and Florencia Colella. Michigan State University Extension, Farm Management Report. (2023).

"2022 Michigan State University Custom Work Rates," with Jonathan LaPorte, Matthew Gammans, Melissa McKendree, Florencia Colella, and Corey Clark. Michigan State University Extension, Farm Management Report. (2022).

"The 2022 Greenhouse and Nursery Labor Employment Survey Summary of Preliminary Findings," with J. Edward Taylor, Edward Whitney, Dahye Kim, and AmericanHort. (2022).

"The 2022 National Council of Agricultural Employers Labor Survey Summary of Preliminary Findings," with J. Edward Taylor, Edward Whitney, and Dahye Kim. (2022).

"The 2022 California Farm Bureau Federation Summary of Preliminary Findings," with J. Edward Taylor and Edward Whitney. (2022).

"The 2019 Adapting to Farm Labor Scarcity Survey Summary of Preliminary Findings," with J. Edward Taylor. (2019).

"Still Searching for Solutions: Adapting to Farm Labor Scarcity Survey 2019," with J. Edward Taylor and the California Farm Bureau Federation. (2019).


Podcasts
What’s Going on With Farm Labor? Michigan State University Extension, Dairy Team, Virtual Coffee Break Podcast. 2025. 

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Work In Progress

"Michigan Statewide Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Enumeration Study," with Deyanira Nevarez Martinez.

"Non-Farm Work and Income Smoothing Among Seasonal Farmworkers," with Clare McGrady.

"Farm Labor Costs and Specialty Crop Imports," with Junjian Zhu. 

"Labor Cost Price Pass Through in Specialty Crops," with Junjian Zhu.

"Labor Policy Preferences for Great Lakes Dairy Producers," with David Ortega and Yingfei Xie.

"Labor Shortages and Dairy Farmer Adaptation Strategies," with David Ortega and Anna Hooks.

"Domestic Farm Employment and the H-2A Visa Program," with Marcelo Castillo and Dahye Kim.
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