Local growers could lose thousands of dollars if workforce
continues to dwindle
Morgan Hill – Farmers are reporting a shortage of labor to harvest crops and forcing them to take huge losses. Locally, the impact has been mixed, and varies on the amount and type of crops a farmer is growing. Those growing more fragile crops, such as strawberries and peppers, have said they are scrambling to find enough workers to pick the harvest.
While peak harvest season is still about three weeks away for several farms, growers are already beginning to worry if they will be forced to let large portions of their crops perish if they’re unpicked.
“So far we’ve been able to cover all our bases,” said Pete Aiello from Uesugi Farms in Gilroy. “The real test will come in early August when we are harvesting our chili peppers. We’ll see; it will be interesting.”
Uesugi Farms employs between 500 and 600 people to pick crops during the peek growing season, but Aiello said that the numbers have gone down the past few years.
“It’s been gradually getting worse,” Aiello said. “We’ve been able to find some way to get around it. But it has been getting more and more difficult to do that with them locking up borders.”
Tim Chiala, director of farm operations at George Chiala Farms, said he has been forced to give extra work to his employees to ensure that he has enough people to work his fields.
“I’m having to promise people work all the way through,” Chiala said. “I’m having them pull weeds on the side of the road – work I really don’t need. But it is what I have to do just to keep them.”
Chiala estimates that he is losing $10,000 per week by having workers stay on longer than what he actually needs.
In a typical year, Chiala hires about 300 people to work the fields, but that fluctuates depending on the work that needs to be done.
The potential economic impact is still hazy.
Aiello said that the worst case scenario is that farmers may have to leave their fields fallow, which could impact the local supply of produce.
Marc Grossman, principal spokesman for the United Farm Workers of America, said he has heard anecdotal evidence that there is a shortage of across the state, but said it could be the result of labor conditions.
“We think 10 to 15 percent of workers are forced to leave every year,” Grossman said. “That has more to do with, not all of but a lot, how people are treated.”
Grossman cited that five people recently died from the heat in the Central Valley.
He questioned the reported labor shortage saying that the decrease in workers could be attributed to wages not rising like they should if there was a competition for labor.
“If there were sustained labor shortages, why don’t we see any significant increases in wages?” Grossman said.
Chiala said, however, that he ends up paying his workers better than minimum wage.
“We typically pay by the bucket or the basket,” Chiala said.
While there is technology available that can help pick fields, both farmers said their crops are not conducive to being picked by machines.
“We are constantly looking for ways to avoid this kind of labor, unfortunately, these types of commodities are really dependent on hand harvesting,” Aiello said.
Usually you get four to five picks out of field.”
Not all area farms are suffering, however. Some are small enough that they can get by with people they have on staff or through contracting out the work.
Andy Mariani, owner of Andy’s Orchard, said he could see problems by next year if his contractors cannot find enough people to work.
“The problem is bad this year (for others) and it will get worse in coming years,” Mariani said. “This year has been no problem getting enough people, but it remains to be seen what will happen next year.”
Most agreed that the ultimate answer will come from the federal government providing a legal way for the workers to stay in the country and give them an extra incentive to stay.
Aiello encourages the public to pressure lawmakers to adopt immigration reform policy that will keep workers in the fields.
“I would ask that the public support a good comprehensive immigration bill by Senate,” Aiello said. “I’m hoping the public comes around and writes their congressman that they need a good, safe and legal way to enter the country.”
