Rural Housing Service Analyses of Farm Labor Housing and Rental Assistance Payments

Farmworkers play a critical role in the nation's agricultural sector. However, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), farmworkers are among the most poorly housed people in the United States. To support the development of adequate, affordable housing for farmworkers, Congress enacted the Farm Labor Housing (FLH) Loan and Grant Program in the early 1960s. This program provides capital financing to buy, develop, improve, or repair housing for domestic farmworkers employed on farms or in agricultural or processing industries off-farm. The FLH program is the only federally assisted source of housing dedicated to farm labour, which is defined as services associated with the spectrum of farming activities, from cultivating the soil to delivering commodities to market. This book discusses the opportunities that exist to strengthen farm labour housing program management and oversight.