http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.c ... 1/?ID=1190

January 24, 2006 8:23am

Central Valley orange growers look to Thailand for labor

• Citrus Mutual studying proposal

• Orange growers say traditional sources squeezed

Can workers from Thailand be imported in enough numbers to harvest the Central Valley orange crop?

California Citrus Mutual, an organization of growers, is studying a proposal from a labor contractor to bring in enough Asian workers on a temporary basis to get the fruit off the trees.

Orange growers are the latest Central Valley farmers to complain that traditional sources of field labor are producing fewer and fewer workers.

Blamed are tougher controls of the border with Mexico and higher paying jobs in Central Valley construction luring what workers there are.

A final deal has not been worked out for the Asian workers but is being actively considered according to Exeter-based California Citrus Mutual.