Published: May 31, 2008 11:57 pm      

AGRICULTURE: Local farms, wineries feel effects of a labor shortage

LOCKPORT — BY JOE OLENICK

olenickj@gnnewspaper.com

Some local farms and wineries are having a problem with finding labor — the result of immigration issues and a shrinking pool of migrant workers.

Jim Bittner of Singer Farms in Appleton said his farm is doing OK for now, but is making changes to compensate for the cost of the missing labor. He had to cut back on growing cherries and peaches because there isn’t enough help to pick them. Labor comprises about 50 percent of the costs of growing cherries and peaches.

“We’re nervous as heck. We barely made it last year with enough help,” Bittner said. “It’s more a fear of the unknown. We’re hoping Washington, D.C., gets serious about it.”

Bittner said his biggest labor need is when the apples are in season, which is about the first two weeks of September. The problem with growing fresh produce is the fruit has to be picked at a certain time. And there just aren’t enough hands to pick.

“We made a decision in January not to plant as much,” Bittner said. “A lot of fresh market produce has to be picked in a timely fashion. Otherwise it turns too ripe or not ripe enough.”

He added Singer will be growing blueberries, as well as tart cherries, that can be picked by machines, not workers.

Some farms are doing fine, despite the labor shortage. One of these is Becker Farms and Vizcarra Vineyards in Gasport. Owner Oscar Vizcarra said because the farm and vineyard don’t do a lot of wholesale business, the labor need isn’t as great.

“We’re very fortunate,” he said. “The in-house labor is minimal. But it is always a concern, a seasonal dilemma, even in our way of business. Someone still has to harvest the crops.”

Vizcarra said he doesn’t see as many migrant workers in the area as there have been in the past. He added that there is a small group of Mexicans laborers who come to work on the farm. They usually return because they like it at Becker Farms and Vizcarra Vineyards, Vizcarra said.

“We treat them with respect and humility,” he said. “We appreciate them. It is hard work.”

The lack of farm labor is drawing the government’s interest, but nothing has been done yet. According to a New York Farm Bureau news release, Congress shot down a bill proposed by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, on May 20. The bill would have provided emergency relief to the nation’s current agriculture labor shortage. The bureau said it was “extremely disappointed in the failure of Congress, once again, to come up with an immigration reform measure that addresses the pressing labor needs of agriculture in New York and across the nation.”

The Emergency Agriculture Relief Act would have granted temporary, limited immigration status for experienced farm workers who would then be required to continue to work in American agriculture for the next five years. The bill also aimed to fix the H-2A program, which many farmers in New York rely on to legally bring temporary foreign workers in. The bill would have streamlined the process for an employer to more quickly obtain government approval.

“Without immigration reform, New York farmers will stop producing fruits, vegetables, and dairy, all of which require and need an adequate labor force, turning instead to the typical row crops that can be grown with mechanical planting and harvesting equipment, like corn and soybeans,” the Bureau said in the news release. “New York will lose the significant diversity of our agricultural production, and the proud heritage of our state’s farm families in producing locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables and dairy for our state and nation.”

Contact reporter Joe Olenick

at 439-9222, ext. 6241.