U.S. Agriculture feels impact of increased border patrol

The New York Times has reported that the increased border patrol enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border has kept many undocumented Mexican migrant workers out of California and elsewhere this year, and farmers are being hit hard by the impact this has had on harvesting capacity. Despite above-average fruit yields this season, national fruit harvest rates have stagnated as farm operators have had to reject literally tons of fruit picked too late for markets, and growers across the nation report orchards saturated with rotting unpicked fruit. This harvest crisis is the result of a severe shortage of migrant farm laborers. In California, growers have estimated that the state fell short this harvest season by approximately 70,000 workers. Losses for California pear farmers alone are estimated to be at least $10 million. Significant labor shortages have also been reported in the states of Washington and New York. Many growers blame the recent labor crisis on the failure of Congress to approve a new guest-worker program that had been widely endorsed by a uniquely broad alliance including growers' organizations, the U.F.W. and other farm worker advocates, and legislators ranging from liberal Democrats to conservative Republicans. Last week some 300 growers representing every major farm state in the U.S. took up fruit baskets and rallied on the lawn on Capitol Hill in protest. Link to the story below. -TW

Pickers Are Few, and Growers Blame Congress (New York Times)