http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=9893

Publish Date: 9/17/2006

Lack of migrant workers leaves county farms choking in weeds
Farmers cope with labor shortage

By Ben Ready
The Daily Times-Call

LONGMONT — A dry summer and the shortage of migrant laborers have depleted Boulder and Weld county crop production this year.

Sugar beet and organic vegetable farmers stand to lose the most in ag yield this fall because of a labor shortage that has left their fields choking on weeds.

Organic farmers rely most on migrant laborers because organic-label standards limit them from using many chemical herbicides, Longmont soil conservationist Don Graffis said. Those farmers typically employ large numbers of Hispanic workers to weed their fields and, in many cases, to harvest them.

Hand-picked vegetables often receive less bruising than mechanically harvested vegetables and sell for more money, he said.

Along with drought, farmers this year have also begun to cope with new state laws that many say have already scared immigrant workers out of Colorado.


In July, state lawmakers passed immigration legislation requiring that employers verify the Social Security numbers of their workers and maintain identification and eligibility status records. The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, will be enforced with $5,000 fines for employers caught violating the first time and up to $25,000 for a second offense.

The Colorado Farm Bureau estimates that new immigration laws could lead to a massive worker shortage in the state and a $59.9 million yearly dent in Colorado’s $16 billion agriculture industry.

Firestone-area sugar beet farmer Artie Elmquist said the labor shortage and drought this year will drop his yield by one-third. The beets that have managed to grow with limited water will be hard to harvest because of excessive weeds — weeds migrants used to pull.

“This is the first year I haven’t had anybody drive in my yard asking for work in the beet fields,” Elmquist said. “They’re saying the tightening of immigration laws is a contributing factor.”

In past years, Elmquist has paid Hispanic migrants about $55 an acre, or $8.75 an hour per worker, to weed his 56-acre beet field by hand. As required by law, Elmquist, said, he has always asked workers for two forms of identification — usually a Social Security card and driver’s license — and filled out I-9 employment forms.

But who knows how many of the Social Security cards he has seen over the years have been fraudulent, Elmquist said. Hiring only eight seasonal workers a year, he hasn’t learned to recognize a fake card, nor has he had the time to use online databases to verify the numbers.

“We as farmers know we need to rely on migrant workers,” he said. “There must be a workable solution. There must be a guest-worker program where we can hire the laborers we need.”

Elmquist said he hopes Congress will have created a foolproof and easy-to-check worker eligibility card before next year’s harvest.

In the meantime, he urges fellow farmers to resist the temptation to attract now-wary illegal migrants to Colorado.

“I would hope people don’t have to resort to questionable tactics to secure the labor,” he said.

“You never know when you’re going to be randomly checked,” he said.

Ben Ready can be reached at 303-684-5326, or by e-mail at bready@times-call.com.