Laws: January, 2004 - Number #07

Idaho. Anheuser-Busch has since 1987 owned Agricultural Resources Inc.'s Elk Mountain Farms, about 20 miles northwest of Bonners Ferry near the Idaho-Canadian border, and employs migrant workers who live in 60 concrete block, two-bedroom apartments between March and October that have nearby soccer fields. During the three-week harvest from mid- August to early September, workers work seven-day weeks, and many share their apartments with harvest-time workers. Wages are high, from $7.50 to $8.55 per hour. Colorado. Housing for migrant workers is often controversial, but Pueblo County commissioners voted 7-0 in October 2003 to approve a Via Don Carlos migrant farm worker facility for 180 people that will be financed mostly by USDA. Neighbors opposed the facility, but farmer Tom Rusler said that he could not operate without migrants. Susan Drumheller, "Migrants follow the crops to a better future," Spokesman Review, September 28, 2003.