Muddy Fields, Still a Busy Day

Mel Paz, 69, has worked as a migrant farm worker since 1953.  For most of his life he would work every day, no matter the day of the week or holiday.  But since the use of Roundup Ready sugar beets and other agricultural technological advances, the need for work has diminished.

“I used to work everyday, even on holidays,” Paz said.  ”But now the chemicals have made the jobs disappear.”

Becuase the fields do not need constant attention for weeding and thinning the crops, Paz works to dig irrigation ditches and build pipes for various farmers in the Mitchell, Neb., area.  The rain throughout the week allowed Paz to not work on Saturday.

He spent the day mowing his lawn, going to the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and going to the farm of Jerry Lovelace.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

Mel Paz Digging Irrigation Ditches

Mel Paz, 69, has been coming to Mitchell, Neb., every summer for migrant farm work since 1975.  Roundup Ready sugar beets have virtually eliminated the need for migrant farm workers because there are no more weeds to pull anymore.

Paz still comes up every year, but now he mainly does odd jobs for multiple farmers during the summer.  Monday and Tuesday, Paz spent most of the day digging the dirt from irrigation ditches.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

Working for his Family

Domingo Martinez, 36, works at Rocking TJ Farms in Hemingford, Neb.  He is the sole provider for his family of six.  When he and his wife, Sulema, were growing up in Mexico and Nebraska, they both worked on the farms pulling weeds and thinning the fields of sugar beets.

But since the introduction of Roundup Ready sugar beets, the number of jobs in the area have diminished significantly.  Sulema can no longer find work in the fields, so she stays home to watch their four kids.

Martinez spent Monday morning tilling the corn fields, but the left over sugar beets from last year’s harvest continually got caught in the tilling rotors.  So Martinez had to stop in the middle of the field almost every pass in order to remove the stuck sugar beets.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

Visiting a Friend

Mel Paz, 69, has been coming to Nebraska for migrant farm work since 1975.  He has built close relationships with many of the farmers, ranchers and business owners in the Mitchell, Neb., area.

His good friend, Tom Mauler, and Paz visited Sunday on Mauler’s farm just north of Mitchell in Souix County, Neb.  The pair walked about a mile and a half around the whole farm, explored the petrified carcass of a cow and enjoyed coffee and chatting in the evening.

Paz also visited the abandoned remains of his Nebraska home during the summer of 1977.  He, his wife and their four children lived in the home while the family cleaned beet and bean fields from April to August of that year.

Monday, Paz will start his work building irrigation pipes in ditches for a couple of other farmers in the area.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

Rain and Mud Means More Time to Cook

Mel Paz, 69, has been coming to work in Nebraska as a migrant farm worker since 1975.  He has built relationships with almost all the farming families in Mitchell and Scottsbluff, Neb.

The recent rainfall has delayed Paz’s normal work schedule.  This next week, Paz will work to organize a garage on Jerry Lovelace’s farm and start to build irrigation pipes for some sugar beet fields.

Paz cooked a beef head for dinner on Friday after letting it cook for 13 hours.  He and his family eat the cheeks, tongue and brains of the barbacoa.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

Mel Paz: Migrant Farm Worker Off the Farm

Mel Paz, 69, has worked as a migrant farm worker for 58 years.  His son, Carlos, lives in Mitchell, Neb., year-round, but Paz goes back to Crystal City, Texas for part of the year.  When Paz is working in Nebraska, he stays with his son, son-in-law, and two of his grandsons in one house.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

Domingo Martinez

Domingo Martinez Jr., 36, has been a migrant farm worker since he was nine years old.  His father, Domingo Sr., worked for the father of the farmer Martinez works for now.  For the past five years, Martinez has worked as a tractor driver and overall handyman for Tom Jensen of Rocking TJ Farms in Hemingford, Neb.

Martinez spends March through November in western Nebraska, and moves his family back to McAllen, Texas for the rest of the year.

Because of the rain and mud today, Martinez spent the day working in the shop and creating some new plumbing for the fertilizer.

Check out the UNL photo documentary photo project’s progress here.

A Vanishing Lifestyle

Mel Paz, 69, has been a migrant farm worker since 1953.  When he started, he and his family lived in chicken coops and other small shelters while working on farms in the summers.  In one year, Paz’s family would start in Texas, then work in Washington, Montana, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Ohio and back to Texas.  They were always following the crops in season.  Now Paz still lives in Texas most of the year, but has been coming to Nebraska since 1975 for work.  A member of the vanishing breed of migrant farm workers in the area, Paz now works small jobs for many farmers in the Mitchell, Neb., area.  He may work building irrigation pipes for one farmer in the morning and weeding a field for another farmer in the afternoon.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

A Family Searching

The Balderas family moved from Phoenix, Ariz., to Gering, Neb., just one month ago.  Patricia and David moved with their three youngest children and Patricia;s sister’s family to western Nebraska in search of migrant farm work.  After struggling for a couple of years in phoenix after David lost his job, the Balderas family decided to move because they heard there might be work in the fields in Nebraska’s panhandle.  Unfortunately, jobs for migrant workers in western Nebraska are scarce since the introduction of modern agricultural technology like Roundup Ready Beets.  Patricia, David, Patricia’s sister Christina and Christina’s husband are all unemployed.  The family is searching for work as first time migrant workers.

Check out the UNL photo documentary project’s progress here.

A Start and Hanging Out with Bethany’s Family

I spent some time with the Baldaras family today.  Patricia and David have lived in Arizona for 22 years.  In April, they moved with three of their children and Patricia’s sister’s family to Gering, Neb., in search of migrant farm work.  This is their first time since childhood working in the fields.  No one in the family has found a job yet, but finding migrant jobs in the panhandle of Nebraska after the introduction of Roundup Ready Beets and other technological advances like it has made the job search more difficult than in years past.

After being at the Baldaras’ home, I went to pick up Bethany in Bayard, Neb.  I spent time playing with the 5th grade daughter while Bethany interviewed the mom and older daughter.  They were very kind and fed us wonderful homemade tamales for dinner.