June 2019 - 8

LABOR
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
for my product are way down where
I'm at. When I have to start to harvest,
Mexico is still shipping produce into
the U.S. at a lower price (that is) very
unfair to U.S. growers. "
Some worst-case scenarios came to
pass.
" Because of labor shortages and
regulations here on Long Island, New
York, I was forced to retire from
farming, " one respondent said. " I was
a fourth-generation and last generation
farmer here in my hometown. "
In an effort to have enough help to
harvest crops, one grower indicated
the farm " chose to forgo hand weeding
and other jobs, " while others chose to
plant fewer crops.
Respondents who were asked what
percentage of workers they lacked
from their required worker numbers,
showed a range of 0%-95%.
" We just squeezed by and got
lucky, " said one respondent.
A total 48% of the respondents
indicated that, due to being short of
manpower, they were forced to leave
crops in the field. As a result, as much
as 60% of a crop went unharvested.
While about one-fifth of the
respondents indicated they did not
have crops that were unharvested due
to lack of labor, a number of growers
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8 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
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No
0%
20%
40%
54.55%
60%
80%
100%
Source: 2019 VGN Grower Survey
said they took whatever action they
could to mitigate the revenue loss.
" We picked crops with the highest
value, " one grower said. Some planted
crops that " were less labor intensive. "
Another " slowed down on the
packing part and did what we could
with the help we had. "
In one instance, a grower
acknowledged the need to " plant more
mechanical harvesting crops. "
Several growers, including one who
" considered closing down, " shared the
sentiment of one grower, who, " could
not make up - lost it. "
Others fought through, working
longer hours, and another " spread
the harvesting days on cabbage
and zucchini squash. We got more
mediums than we should have on
squash, but were still able to harvest. "
While survey results once again
established a growing trend in the
use of H-2A farm visa labor workers,
others looked forward to 2019 with
other approaches.
" I plan to rip out the orchard and
plant only crops that machines can
harvest with no labor, such as alfalfa, "
one grower said.
Others suggested they would reduce
the size of their farm to reduce costs,
rely on family members or " hire local
college and high school people to help
them pay for school. "
Other responses included:
" I will have primarily the same
workforce as last year. I am a
relatively small fruit producer of
blueberries and asparagus. "
" Discontinue CSA (community
supported agriculture) program. "
" Using local labor. We have some
local labor from Mexico with green
cards. "
" Focus on crops that require less
labor. Crops that are more labor
intensive, focus on harvesting fruit that
are most profitable and leave the rest
in the field. "
" Try to recruit labor from farms
that closed and hire a few guys from
Puerto Rico. "
" Advertise more locally for shortterm
help. We have expanded our
crop fields so we will need more help
this year. "
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124 West Main, Harper, KS 67058
1-800-662-4212 * Fax (620) 896-7192
Email: Danville11@msn.com
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Yes
Did you have enough labor in 2018?
45.45%
http://www.danvillenodrift.com http://www.philbrownwelding.com http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2019
