An in-depth investigation reveals that multibillion-dollar Big Ag corporations—including DuPont Pioneer and Monsanto—as well as small-scale farmers routinely use labor recruiters who crowd migrant workers in housing riddled with health and safety violations, such as bed bug infestations and a lack of running water. A newly built public database of housing inspection records exposes the dramatic scope of the problem: When state inspectors visit migrant labor camps, they find violations as much as 60 percent of the time.
IN 2012, SEVEN MIGRANT FARMWORKERS SUED THE AGRICULTURAL GIANT MONSANTO, charging that the $4-per-acre piece rate they were paid for corn detasseling in Indiana was substantially less than the federal minimum wage.