This week's episode of The Farm Report is focused on immigration and agriculture. Guest host Challey Comer is joined by Maria Rojas from GrowNYC and Mary Jo Dudley from the Cornell Farmworker Program. While there are many aspects of immigration to discuss, today's conversation is focused on community aspects of the issue. We learn about farmworker communities, employment experiences, and regulations that impact this integral part of the agricultural industry.

Mary Jo Dudley is the director of the Cornell Farmworker program and a faculty member of the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University. Her research is focused on immigrant workers, farmworker empowerment, migration from Latin America to the U.S. and immigrant communities within the U.S. Through her work in the extension system, she provides education on health and safety for farm operators and workers, planning assistance related to state and federal laws that impact farmworkers and workshops to improve communications between farmworkers, their employers, and members of communities in wich they live. More information on the program is available at farmworkers.cornell.edu

Maria del mar Rojas is the beginning farmer program manager at GrowNYC. In this role, she provides direct technical assistance and organizes trainings to beginning and immigrant farmers who are part of the Greenmarket network. This work is part of GrowNYC's Farm Assistance Retention and Management program, FARMroots. More details on FARMroots is available at www.grownyc.org/farmroots