John Augustine runs a 90-acre nursery outside Phoenix specializing in desert-adapted plants, trees and shrubs, and in the 50 years of running the business, he recalls only about six cases of heat illness.
At Augustine’s main operation, his Desert Tree Farm employs about 60 people. Crews have water coolers out in the field, “go at a nice pace” and take about three breaks.
He gives them this advice: Wear loose fitting, long-sleeved cotton shirts and a hat, start your work before daybreak, and avoid energy beverages. “Drink plenty water and drink more plenty water,” he says.
Like most people working outdoors in America’s hottest city , Augustine and his crew know how to cope in the summer months, just like people employed in construction, roofing, cooling systems and other service providers.
Agriculture is “hard, skilled work,” said Augustine. “And it is necessary work.”
There are about 1,527 farms in Maricopa County and about 30% of them hire farm labor, according to USDA census data . On about 260,000 acres of cropland, farms in the county produce cow milk, hay for cows that produce the milk, vegetables, melons, potatoes, other horticultural crops and nursery plants. Few farms hire more than 10 employees, both year-round and seasonal, and only 62 hire migrant workers.