"U.S. farms are increasingly reliant on contract workers who are acutely exposed to climate extremes,"

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A higher proportion of U.S. farms are now using contract workers...

Because of the terms of their employment, those laborers have specific challenges voicing concerns about their working conditions and are more likely to be on the front lines of climate change, facing increasing heat and extreme weather.

Climate change affects all farm workers, but advocates and researchers say this is a reason to focus particularly on these workers...

Contract workers hired by an agency may work hundreds of miles from where they live and may move from place to place, making it harder to keep farmers accountable for labor abuses, explained Alexis Guild, vice president of strategy and programs at the nonprofit Farmworker Justice.

Some contracting agencies also employ undocumented workers, who may remain silent for fear of being deported..

“I worry about some of our most vulnerable populations who have contract jobs that don’t have very good protections in place being more exposed to worse conditions,” said Jennifer Vanos, an associate professor at Arizona State University who studies climate and health with a focus on extreme heat...