Thread: AGRICULTURE: Farmers scramble to find workers as some face losing crops

AGRICULTURE: Farmers scramble to find workers as some face losing crops



AGRICULTURE Farmers scramble to find workers as some face losing crops

A farmworker carries a ladder into a grove of Valencia orange trees as he joined 15 other laborers who were picking fruit in Pauma Valley on Wednesday. DON BOOMER | dboomer@nctimes.com

2012-08-25T20:00:00Z2012-08-25T20:57:17Z
By PAT MAIO pmaio@nctimes.comNorth County Times
1 hour ago •

This broken record has been playing for years: Every spring, farmers begin to complain about a shortage of workers needed to harvest fruit, vegetables or flowers.

But this year something happened that many local agricultural experts say they've never seen before ---- and feared was coming.

Mike A. Mellano, whose family has grown commercial flowers in Morro Hills, one of Oceanside's last large pockets of agricultural land, said he fell short by about 10-15 percent of his labor needs to cut more than 50 varietal flowers on his 400-acre spread. Consequently, some of the product at Mellano & Co., which was established in 1925, was left to die in the field, he said.

"It was significant," Mellano said of the losses. "We experienced a brief shortage (of farm workers) about four or five years ago, but it wasn't as long-term as this one. That was for 30 days or so, but this one is pretty significant.

"When the crop comes in, we need labor now, not two or three weeks down the road. By the time we can get the pieces of the puzzle together, the market is gone."

Mellano said he's been in discussions with farm bureaus across California regarding the labor shortages, and the message has been the same. "This is the first time anyone remembers significant and severe labor shortages reported up and down the state. In the past, they've been limited on a regional basis."

Experts say a complicated set of factors is causing the shortage, including tougher border enforcement, improving conditions in Mexico, and a sluggish U.S. economy that is failing to attract as many immigrants.

Mellano, who normally relies on 95 to 115 seasonal workers annually, began seeing a tight labor market in early spring. "We are not ready to come out of it," he said.

His troubles also have been exacerbated by rivals in Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador, giving his business a run for its money. "We are not a closed economy. We have limitations on how much money we can pay our workers," Mellano said.

Al Serrato, a farm labor contractor who operates two white buses to haul workers around Pauma Valley, also is having a tough time. In the past, Serrato has worked with crew leaders who would oversee 50 to 60 workers to harvest local citrus crops or avocados.

This year, he's lucky to get 15 or so workers on one of the 45-seat buses.

Crew leader Pedro de La Cruz, who works for Serrato, said he can't even find documented farm workers south of the U.S. border. He placed advertisements in newspapers in Tijuana, San Ysidro and elsewhere, but struck out, he said. "They won't do the work," he complained of recruits.

On Tuesday, de La Cruz had a small crew picking Valencia oranges near Rincon Springs Road and Highway 76. Jobs that once took three days now take six, Serrato said.

"The problem is that, by the end of the season, we will be way behind, and some of our fruit will suffer," Serrato said. "The quality goes."

Serrato said he may quit harvesting citrus trees next year because the pay is about $100 a day for farm workers, while the pay nearly triples for avocado pickers.

Avocado work pays better, and it's somewhat easier to find helpers, despite the tough work of climbing 40-foot-high trees with rickety ladders, on hillsides in rocky terrain, he said.

Ken Melvin, director of issues management for the Irvine-based California Avocado Commission, said growers are nervous about the labor challenges. "There is not a full-scale labor shortage, but we are about as efficient as we can be in sharing workers with each other," Melvin said.

Visa program costly
Some growers have tried to use the H-2A visa program to import documented workers into the U.S. to help out.

One major avocado grower in San Diego County, Jerome Stehly, tried to go through the H-2A program this year. But he became so frustrated with its high cost, legal fees and housing and transportation expenses, that he's said to have scrapped it, according to several sources familiar with his use of the program.

Stehly declined to comment.

Roberto Ramirez, co-owner of Mountain Meadow Mushroom Farms Inc., said he's grown his farm-worker pool to about 120 this year ---- up from a typical year's 80 to 100 ---- so that he can accommodate all of the lower-producing workers harvesting mushrooms, as well as the nagging problem of some who bolt from the job after a week.

"Oh my god, I've been working here for 12 years, and I haven't seen it this bad before," Ramirez said. "It's unbelievable."

The workforce issue at the 17-acre mushroom farm in Escondido is particularly acute, because the picking season takes place all year. "We're having to pay overtime just to keep up with picking 100,000 pounds every week," Ramirez said. "We're having them work 15-16 hours a day just to get the mushrooms out."

Farm workers receive $8 an hour under California minimum-wage laws, but can earn up to $16 an hour for filling up more baskets of mushrooms ---- called "piece rate," a common way of paying farm workers that is based on higher pay as they harvest greater volumes.

For instance, a farmworker can earn up to $16 an hour for harvesting 30-32 baskets of mushrooms, Ramirez said.
Why is there a shortage of workers?

"I have no idea. We've advertised in local church bulletins, El Latino (a 60,000 circulation, Spanish-language weekly newspaper in San Diego), and we can't get anyone," Ramirez said.

Dave Kranz, a spokesman with the California Farm Bureau Federation of Sacramento, said his trade group recently launched an online survey for its statewide members to report how they're coping with the labor shortages.

Kranz cited numerous reasons for the shortage: border crossings have become more dangerous because of drug cartels; the U.S. government is doing a better job of enforcing the borders; and the Mexican economy is doing better.

Crackdowns picking up
Figures provided by the U.S. Border Patrol show that, for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2008, some 163,390 illegal immigrants were stopped from trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico, in San Diego County. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2011, there were 42,447 stopped at the border, with 22,288 stopped from Oct. 1 to June 30.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has stepped up its removal of illegal immigrants in San Diego and Imperial counties. ICE figures in the two-county area show 18,086 removals for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2010. The removals jumped to 33,066 in fiscal 2011, and stood at 15,756 from Oct. 1 to June 30.

The California Farm Bureau estimates that 200,000 to 250,000 farm jobs are needed at any given time in the state, but during the harvest crunch in August and September, the workforce doubles in size.

With fewer border crossings and more removals of illegal immigrants from employment sites, a tighter supply of farm workers has resulted.

Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, consul general of Mexico in Sacramento, told farmers at the farm bureau in late July that migratory flows between Mexico and the U.S. have come to a halt.

"It is a trend that has been consistent for the last two years, and I'm talking about almost the same number of people returning to Mexico as the newcomers from Mexico (are coming to the U.S.)," Gonzalez told the bureau's Ag Alert internal newsletter. He said the farm-worker shortage also could be attributed to a declining birth rate in Mexico ---- which has dropped 40 percent from several years ago.

"There is high demand for harvest help this year. We are all sitting on the edge of our seats as the peak of harvest season comes in the next month or so," Kranz said.

Call staff writer Pat Maio at 760-740-3527.

AGRICULTURE: Farmers scramble to find workers as some face losing crops

He said the farm-worker shortage also could be attributed to a declining birth rate in Mexico ---- which has dropped 40 percent from several years ago.

I think it just moved across the border and has become subsidized. JMO

If their business model is based on cheap, illegal labor, than it's a good thing that they fail. They appear to be too lazy to fill out the paperwork required to import labor.

Originally Posted by ReggieMay

. . . They appear to be too lazy to fill out the paperwork required to import labor.

From the article:

Visa program costly
Some growers have tried to use the H-2A visa program to import documented workers into the U.S. to help out.

One major avocado grower in San Diego County, Jerome Stehly, tried to go through the H-2A program this year. But he became so frustrated with its high cost, legal fees and housing and transportation expenses, that he's said to have scrapped it, according to several sources familiar with his use of the program.

The farmer has to pay for their transportation to and from their home country and provide them with a place to live near where they work.

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f12/farmers-str...ickers-263625/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Experts say a complicated set of factors is causing the shortage, including tougher border enforcement, improving conditions in Mexico, and a sluggish U.S. economy that is failing to attract as many immigrants.

...

Crew leader Pedro de La Cruz, who works for Serrato, said he can't even find documented farm workers south of the U.S. border. He placed advertisements in newspapers in Tijuana, San Ysidro and elsewhere, but struck out, he said. "They won't do the work," he complained of recruits.

Well, duh. If people aren't coming from Mexico because the economy there is better why are you advertising in Mexico? Thanks to remittances and trade with the USA it now has the 3rd highest per capita income in the Americas and half the unemployment rate of the USA.

Originally Posted by artclam

Well, duh. If people aren't coming from Mexico because the economy there is better why are you advertising in Mexico? Thanks to remittances and trade with the USA it now has the 3rd highest per capita income in the Americas and half the unemployment rate of the USA.

And a minimum wage of $4.60 a DAY.

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's minimum wage commission set the increase for 2012 at 4.2% for all three of the country's geographic zones, slightly above the rate of inflation expected for this year and next.
The Labor Ministry said in a press release that the increase brings to 62.33 pesos ($4.60) a day the minimum wage in zone A, which includes Mexico City. The minimum wage is slightly lower in other geographic zones.
Mexico's 2012 Minimum Wage Increase Set At 4.2% - WSJ.com

Originally Posted by artclam

Well, duh. If people aren't coming from Mexico because the economy there is better why are you advertising in Mexico? . . .

For instance, a farmworker can earn up to $16 an hour for harvesting 30-32 baskets of mushrooms, Ramirez said.
Why is there a shortage of workers?

"I have no idea. We've advertised in local church bulletins, El Latino (a 60,000 circulation, Spanish-language weekly newspaper in San Diego), and we can't get anyone," Ramirez said.

http://www.alipac.us/f12/agriculture...5/#post1302360

Crew leader Pedro de La Cruz, who works for Serrato, said he can't even find documented farm workers south of the U.S. border. He placed advertisements in newspapers in Tijuana, San Ysidro and elsewhere, but struck out, he said. "They won't do the work," he complained of recruits.

San Ysidro is in the U.S
http://www.alipac.us/f12/agriculture...5/#post1302360

RELATED

http://www.alipac.us/f19/70-years-to...on-end-224210/

Why should they work when they can get every thing free? Every one of them that crosses that border knows that basically our government will protect them and give them protection. What happened to "They do the jobs Americans won"t do ". Seems like they grab the good jobs, so now they need to rewrite this to " They do the jobs the Mexicans won"t do."