INTRO:
Farmers across the US say their crops are rotting in the fields because there aren't enough workers to pick them. An immigrant labour shortage has lead to millions of dollars in losses every year.
Tighter border restrictions have been in place during both Barack Obama's and Donald Trump's presidencies. But farmers say the issues are more complex than immigration policies alone. Frances Read reports from California.
DUR: 1,52"
OUT: Santa Paula, California
http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0825CropRot-fr-gen.mp3
PKG:
VO1: It's the end of the lemon-picking season in Santa Paula. But farms here are losing money because they can't find enough workers to pick the produce. This lemon farm has more than a thousand acres of land in California and Arizona. For its owners - this has become a race against time. Pick the fruit before it falls. Or else it'll rot away.Alex Teague is from Limoneira Farms.
CLIP "As of two years ago just in Ventura County and 3000 acres we have here we lost about 100,000 boxes total loss is probably between 2-4 million dollars"
VO2: The labour here is mostly done by Mexican immigrants. Farmers say many Americans don't want this kind of work - and that a decade of heightened border security and visa bureaucracy has cut into immigrant recruitment. Carlos Gutierrez is a worker from Mexico.
CLIP: "It's very difficult, very difficult. They don't give visas to anybody. There are so many requirements for somebody coming here to get a visa."
VO3: That's part of the problem but a booming economy in Mexico also means many people there just don't want to work in the US anymore. But the labour shortage is about more than farm yields. It could affect what consumers eat as well. Will Terry is from the American Farm Bureau.
CLIP: "It really doesn't matter where you are in the country this is affecting everybody. We have demographics changing in Mexico, smaller families means less available people for our workforce and construction companies compete for the same workforce we do this is something that's going to continue to compound itself over time and you're going to see less and less fresh domestic products."
VO4: The government is looking at reform but the problem is complex. Farmers put their hearts and souls into this industry. And many of them say they can no longer afford to watch their livelihoods rot away on the ground. Frances Read, Santa Paula, California.