Grower cites lack of labor as reason for closing this Summer:
US: Largest fresh market tomato grower in Ohio shuts down operation
The grower's dilemma is not unique. Other fruit and vegetable growers across America have also decided to shut down their operations this summer, said Chuck Conner, president and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. These crop losses could cost farmers and the American public hundreds of millions of dollars and force the United States to import more food and vegetables, he said.
"Seventy percent of the agricultural work force, including the milk industry, is performed by an undocumented work force,” Mr. Conner said. “It’s a problem. Our work force is at risk.”
Mr. Conner, whose organization is in Washington, was in Toledo on Monday to lobby local and state officials to support proposed immigration-reform legislation.
That legislation includes a proposal to provide legal working status for immigrants who aren’t in the country legally. He also spoke to The Blade’s editorial board on Tuesday.
In recent years many farm workers and even Latinos who aren’t farm workers in northwest Ohio have expressed concerns about being racially profiled and frequently harassed by immigration border patrol agents and some local law enforcement officers, who don’t have authority to enforce federal immigration laws, but try to, he said.
“There’s a big chill over northern Ohio,” Mr. Velasquez said. “Nobody wants to be harassed or having to constantly be looking over their shoulder.”
The 500 migrant farm workers usually employed by Charles Jones earn a combined annual payroll of about $2.6 million. A significant portion of that income is spent locally on food, clothing, gas, and big ticket items like new vehicles. Restaurants, grocery stores, laundry facilities, gas stations will all lose business.
Growers annually spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on seeds and other materials and products, which generates income for businesses and sales income tax, revenue that will be missing this year, Mr. Velasquez said.
Source: toledoblade.com