Arizona growers race against the clock to find winter harvest workers

[aggiesal]

By Daniel González, The Arizona Republic
YUMA, Ariz. — C.R. Waters practically lives in his pickup now that harvest season has begun for the winter vegetable capital of the USA.

As the farm manager for a major vegetable distributor, he makes sure everything from iceberg lettuce to broccoli is ready to pick at precise times.

Good weather has created ideal growing conditions, but Waters is worried that when the vegetables are ready, there won't be enough laborers to get crops out of the fields to market.

Waters, president of the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association, said it will take 30,000 seasonal workers to harvest the sea of winter vegetables grown in Yuma County, where the fruit and vegetable crop was valued at $745 million in 2004. The area produces 90% of the winter vegetables consumed in the USA and Canada, and 98% of the iceberg lettuce, according to the Arizona office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, a part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

If growers can't find enough workers, some crops may go unpicked. That could increase prices at the supermarket, and create substantial financial losses for farmers.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-20-winter-harvest_x.htm


"I told you so ..." doesn't even begin to cover this