Valley hit by worker shortage plaguing rest of U.S. [View all]
Source: visalia times
Farmers from California to New York struggled to find enough people to harvest their crops this season, a shortage they blame on federal bureaucratic requirements, a sharp decline in migrant laborers willing to cross the U.S.-Mexican border and the greater availability of non-farm work in the slowly improving economy.
State laws designed to crack down on migrant laborers, who make up the bulk of the nation’s seasonal farm workers, are also to blame, agriculture officials say.
“We see shortages in all parts of the country,” said Kristi Boswell, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau. “Farmers are struggling with fewer bodies out there to harvest the crop. They’re definitely stressed.”
A California Farm Bureau Federation survey released this month showed widespread shortages throughout the state, especially among growers of labor-intensive crops like tree fruits, vegetables and berries. Sixty-one percent of the nearly 800 growers surveyed said they were shorthanded by a little or a lot this year.
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