Michigan farmers began hiring seasonal laborers to plant, weed, and harvest crops in the early twentieth century. From 1910 to 1950, most workers came from the Appalachian Mountain region of the U.S. At the end of the harvest, workers returned home or found work in a nearby factory. Starting around 1930, most laborers in the Stockbridge area came from Magoffin County, Kentucky. During World War II, farm labor shortages threatened the country's food production. The 1943 Federal Emergency Farm Labor Act led to agreements with Mexico, the Bahamas, Jamaica, and the Philippines to provide seasonal workers for U.S. farms, including many in this area. Since the 1960s, Mexican and Tejano workers have been vital to the successful harvest of produce on Michigan farms.