Posted on 07/10/2006 11:11:56 AM PDT by Jean S
LAKELAND -- As many as 6 million boxes of oranges may go unharvested in Florida this year because of a shortage of fruit pickers made worse by fears about what changes may come in immigration law.
The citrus season usually ends in late June, but will extend to at least late July this year with juice processors hoping to get as many oranges as possible off trees.
"There's very little doubt we'll leave a significant amount of fruit on the tree," said Mike Carlton, the director of production and labor affairs at Florida Citrus Mutual. "Whether that's 3 million boxes or 6 million boxes, nobody can say."
There were about 9 million boxes of Valencia oranges still on trees this week, The Ledger reported Sunday.
Orange production in the state could become the lowest since 1992 if the worst projections come true. That year, growers harvested 139.8 million boxes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its final citrus crop projection Wednesday. Its June 9 report forecast 153 million boxes of oranges.
Growers have reported difficulty finding enough workers. Industry officials say labor supply was tight from the beginning of the season in October, but grew worse by the middle of May when a large segment of the Hispanic labor force seemed to leave the state.
"The labor shortage is what held us up this year," said Dave Crumbly, the vice president of fruit control at Florida's Natural Growers in Lake Wales, the nation's third-largest citrus processor. "Because labor was marginal at best, it didn't take much to push it into a shortage."
Industry officials cited the talk of immigration crackdowns for their inability to find Hispanic workers, who make up much of Florida's farm work force.
Lake Wales citrus grower Marty McKenna, who manages about 4,000 grove acres, said word had spread through the Hispanic community to return home if they wanted U.S. jobs in the future.
The state's largest processor, Tropicana Products Inc. in Bradenton, plans to stay open through July 21, said Peter Brace, a spokesman for parent company PepsiCo Inc. in Chicago.
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Information from: The Ledger, http://www.theledger.com
The inability to find workers stems from the fact that they are being illegally employed in just about every other business in the nation, not that any mythical crackdown is having an impact.
I don't mind paying more for my oranges and orange juice. Offer more to the orange pickers!
What's Jeb say about this?
Too much competition for illegals, eh?
28 MILLION illegal aliens and not enough to pick fruit. Just what jobs DO they have???
Here's the thing: If the employer will pay a decent wage, workers will show up. It's supply and demand.
The notion that Americans won't do this work is not a reflection on American workers. It may possibly be a reflection on the employers.
Right. More border pimp jive. Our other friend said it best . Pay more !!!!!!
We've got 11 illegal aliens. They are supposedly doing these jobs that Americans don't want.
Oh well, if I need oranges that bad I'll pay more for them.
We've got 11 million illegal aliens. They are supposedly doing these jobs that Americans don't want.
I agree. Simple supply and demand.
Pay American Pickers American Wages
Fortunately, you won't have to pay much more. If the price on domestic oranges rises too high, we will import them at a lower cost from Brazil.
Would you happen to know what percentage of the OJ juice concentrate comes from Brazil?
They are having a hard time finding people to pick because they are paying illegals a lot less than what they would pay legals.
Pay legals enough and they will pick oranges.
The seasonal price for both cherries and blueberries is very cheap this year. I paid $2 a pint for blueberries and $2.99 a pound for cherries. If American growers cannot find sufficient labor to harvest crops (cherries, blueberries, oranges, etc.), South American growers will step up and fill the void. We've all seen this before in other industries.
After they invented those refrigerated cases through which you reach and pick oranges off the tree, I thought they had eliminated the need for field hands.
;o)
wouldnt be a bad summer job for high school kids sitting at home...
Non violent offenders. They can pay off their court costs, the prison can recoup the cost to house them, and the prisoner gets a trust fund set up for use upon release. And the oranges will get picked!!!
Don't know, but I bet its in the neighborhood of 40%?
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