LAKE COUNTY — Local growers have observed this year”s pear crop to be one of the best in years, but local growers have also shed tears over the loss of up to half of their pear harvest due to labor shortages.
Agricultural and labor leaders agree that the farm labor work force reduction is partly due to tighter security along the Mexican border and better-paying jobs in other industries.
“I think that the acuity with which this labor shortage is felt resonates and suggests a root problem, which is the production technology in agriculture,” said Howard Rosenberg, an agricultural labor management specialist at the University of California. “In certain sectors, pears being one of them, there is a lot of demand for people in a short period of time.”
Rosenberg then made an analogy between farm laborers and firefighters, stating that, “We pay firefighters to be ready for when a fire occurs,” and comparing this to the timing of agricultural production.
Last December Rosenberg warned that without people available when needed for seasonal tasks, fields could be left unplanted, plants not cultivated or protected at a critical time, and even ripe crops could go unharvested.
Rosenberg said a change is occurring in regard to immigration controls. “What we”ve seen in the last few years and particularly this last year is no change in the law that affects the obligation to check … but we have seen a change in tone under existing law that makes the specter of enforcement more visible. This is happening with a slow tightening of screws.”
Rosenberg also explained other factors affecting the labor shortage, saying, “I think there has been a maturing of Latino communities throughout the country. New immigrants networks are now older and have more widespread geographic connections. The Southeast has been very attractive to new immigrants simply because of lower cost of living. All of these things are adding up and a long time ago we should have figured out how to get pears out of the trees without a ladder.”
What that has led to is an innovation in the industry.
Yoxagoi Land Management Owner Lars Crail is now picking pears without ladders because he previously purchased a high-tech harvesting platform from an importer in the state of Washington who purchased the harvester from the manufacturer in Spain.
“It probably saved half my crop because there just wasn”t enough labor this year when we needed it,” he explained.
Crail said he is one of the first growers to use this platform and he utilized the machine much more than he had originally intended to with the support of UC Davis, which is working with him to demonstrate the platform”s effectiveness and productivity in Lake County.
“I meant to use it for about 50 to 60 tons of pears and I used it to pick about 150 tons of pears,” said Crail. “This project is experimental in that we are trying to quantify its potential. We also made modifications so it can adapt to the orchard.”
Crail said that up to about seven people can work from the platform. Approximately 50 percent of the crew on the machine were female pickers and older workers who normally could not physically handle the ladders, Crail said.
Rachel Elkins, the University of California Cooperative Extension pomology farm advisor for the county, explained, “This machine is a commercial machine designed for fruiting wall orchards. It is made in Spain and geared for harvesting apples. Our orchards are not configured ideally for a machine like this and we have made modifications, such as building a third, higher platform to reach the taller pear trees.”
Elkins also said they modified the the two smaller conveyor belts into one larger one and adjusted the bin carrier to accommodate two types of bins, plastic as well as wooden bins.
She said that they are learning how to make the machine as productive as possible. “We have a good handle on its limitations and we also know how to maximize its potential in the orchard. It could allow an alternative labor force to be used if people accept that the machines productivity is dependent on the orchard.”
Crail said this Wednesday they are equipping the machine with lights and testing it. “The advantage to picking at night is the possible ability to operate the harvesting crew 24 hours a day.”
He explained that extending the working day would enable them to have fruit available for packing sheds the first thing in the morning.
Contact Cynthia Davis at cdavis@record-bee.com.
