(From left) Elfego Perez Merin, Karim Edgar Barraza Morales and Cirillo Perez Merin
At Amy’s Garden, an idyllic 70-acre property in Charles City County, veteran farmer Amy Hicks is barely visible among the rambling rows of Swiss chard, sunflowers and strawberries. Joining her in the fields are employees Karim Edgar Barraza Morales and brothers Cirillo and Elfego Perez Merin, holding baskets brimming with squash blossoms and greens.
While the crew seems small, the trio — Mexican migrants employed through the federal H-2A visa program for temporary agricultural workers — are the backbone of the 25-year-old operation. “This is who runs the farm, along with [my husband] George [Ferguson] and I,” Hicks says.
From Cuernavaca, Mexico, Elfego has been employed at Amy’s for a decade. This marks his brother Cirillo’s second season; both previously worked on tobacco farms in Texas and Virginia. A Mexico City native, Morales has been returning to Amy’s for nine years.
The group works from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Each day, Hicks prepares a task list that can include assisting in the greenhouse, washing and packing produce, preparing bouquets for farmers markets, or picking strawberries. Arriving at the farm in April, they will remain until early October, getting paid $14.91 an hour and living in a two-bedroom brick house on the property (the accommodations are included with their pay).
Amy’s Garden founder Amy Hicks
Hicks and Ferguson founded the farm in 1998 after she had quit her job in the restaurant industry to commit to farming full time. In 2003, the couple moved from their property in New Kent County to the historic farm they currently operate. It was during those scrappy early years, as they were trying to lay a secure foundation for a successful agricultural venture, that the duo began to explore hiring H-2A workers.
“Labor is honestly one of the most important pieces of the farm business,” says Hicks, who has nearly 200 farm share subscriptions and attends the Birdhouse and Williamsburg farmers markets weekly.
Unlike farms that operate all year, Amy’s Garden has adopted a six-months-on, six-months-off method, making it even more difficult to establish a steady crew of workers who want to come back each growing season.
“It is a seasonal job … it’s hard to get a good returning work force, so that was the goal [with using H-2A workers], to have a trained, returning workforce, and it’s been amazing,” Hicks says. “It’s completely changed the trajectory of the farm; it’s made it so much better.”
In the United States, employers can hire migrants to fill temporary agricultural jobs for up to 10 months of the year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, immigrant farmworkers make up an estimated 74% of agriculture workers. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that there were nearly 370,000 temporary jobs filled under the program.
But while the workers at Amy’s Garden, all in their early 30s, initially came to the United States with hopes of establishing economic security and a better future for themselves and their families, the decision to repeatedly relocate to a different country for work has also had its drawbacks.
Being separated from their families takes a toll, and all three express that they deeply miss their partners, children and/or Mexico. When asked how often they talk to their loved ones, they all respond, “Every day.”
“It’s really hard, and there’s a lot of things you’re losing out on because you’re here and not there,” Morales says in Spanish. Married for 16 years, he is currently in the process of separating from his wife. He says the distance has been incredibly taxing on their relationship, especially after his wife had a miscarriage. Unable to devote the time and space to fully process the separation, he says he feels as if everything he has established by coming to the U.S., from making money to buying a house, has been destroyed.
Playing an integral part in the farm’s success and growth over the past decade, Morales made the difficult decision to head back to Mexico one week after my initial visit this spring. He says that while financial stability is what originally brought him to America, he is now in search of emotional stability and healing.
Hicks, who has been employing H-2A visa workers since 2007, is familiar with the emotions that can arise when working a seasonal job. While Morales’ departure will undoubtedly make for a tough transition on the farm, especially during peak produce season, Cirillo and Elfego have recommended a friend who will arrive in a month to fill his position, and Hicks says she understands and respects his choice.
“This happens, he’s been here 10 years almost; it’s hard being away from their families, so we experience that throughout the years, and we talk about it,” she says. “The thing is, you have to be happy here, and if you’re not, we do something else ... but that’s OK, you want your workforce to be happy, that’s the most important thing.”
Cirillo has four kids ranging in age from 2 to 11. He says that he enjoys farming and that when he’s outside with his hands in the dirt his worries seem to dissipate. After working on a tobacco farm in Texas and clocking 18-hour days, he prefers the environment at Amy’s Garden, describing it as much more peaceful.
Although Cirillo longs for his family, he says working alongside his brother has provided them both with a support system and helps them feel less disconnected from their life in Mexico. “We’re here for each other,” he says in Spanish.
One of Hicks’ longest-tenured workers to date, Elfego says he returns to the farm because he likes being there, feels appropriately compensated and, compared to other jobs he’s held, it’s not as physically grueling. He adds that he would encourage others who are looking for similar opportunities to apply.
With a 6-month-old at home, however, Elfego’s absence affects his partner even more. “She feels lonely because, obviously, I’m here,” he says in Spanish.
Locally, Amy’s Garden is one of the only organic produce farms that relies on H-2A workers, Hicks says. She shares that she has connected online with other agricultural businesses that use H-2A employees to gain insight, ask questions and share experiences.
“A lot of times I’ll reach out, because it is a unique program with unique situations and predicaments,” she says. “It’s hard; it’s not for everyone to be away from their family. The upside is that hopefully they’re earning a wage here that is not attainable in Mexico and hopefully it’s helping them to at least build their life there in a way they wouldn't be able to. … In a way, it’s a sucky situation, but it is a good opportunity for them. It’s a complicated issue, but it’s a great program for farmers, I think, and it’s really made us grow the business.”
