Same argument is being played out here so what are the farmers doing? Mechanising. Getting rid of casual labour altogether as its now cheaper to hire specialist machinery to harvest crops, they work 24 hours a day in all weather. In some cases they don't even need anybody to operate them as they are all automatic and GPS equipped / planting is just as easy. Growers are buy plants "specialised" in being able to be mechanically picked/harvested.
Its a shame that the article doesn't expand in terms of explaining whether farms are just inefficient units and unprofitable due to their inefficiency - if that's the case then I doubt any amount of cheap labour will solve the problem. It seems that cheap labour/lack of cheap labour is being used as a political excuse for other more complex, fundemental and possibly more relevent systemic failures within the agriculture sector.
Many crops are harvested mechanically but not all. Mainly just too fragile or dependant on judging ripeness.
The issue is domestic vs imported. Domestic can never be price competitive against the 3rd world. This is why farmers choose illegals as they will work cheaper than legal aliens.
I'm no farmer but we have strawberry "fields" not sure what you call them now - these hideous polytunnels - anyway they have automated "pickers" running up and down the lines. Same with blackcurrents massive fields with just machines shaking the base of the bushes and the fruit falls into the collecting bin things. Not a sole in sight!
yeah bit of a bummer on that front! I guess the US subsidises farming same as here in Europe?
Strawberries hand picked here. We grow a fair amount in my area as the weather suits it. I'm sure they could be machine picked but I wouldn't want them. They're only good if vine ripened. Pineapples are the same though we don't grow those around here. Dad brought some back from Hawaii years ago and I couldn't believe it was the same fruit.
Oh yeah.
Couldn't agree more! As I said we have a lot of stuff grown in these crappy polytunnels and they're just awful - pappy, tasteless mush. Its all down to marginal cost per hectare and sod the taste.
... dunnow but I found this... kinda sad really... but hey that's progress for you!
What you need is mexicans ! We have plenty, want some ? Send some boats, we can fill them up.
Generous offer mate but I think it would provoke a war between them and the Romanians, Bulgarians, Slavs, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Hungarians, Estonians.... let me think have I forgotten anyone...
But will they cut your grass and cook ?Generous offer mate but I think it would provoke a war between them and the Romanians, Bulgarians, Slavs, Latvians, Lithuanians, Poles, Hungarians, Estonians.... let me think have I forgotten anyone...
