VANCOUVER (Washington) COLUMBIAN

June 6, 2006

Strawberries are ripe, but pickers are missing

By DEAN BAKER, Columbian staff writer

Southwest Washington's strawberry season moved into full swing Monday with growers reporting high-quality berries that are in danger of growing moldy in the fields due to a picker shortage.

Dozens of additional pickers were needed to help harvest the rapidly ripening berries, farmers said. But few pickers could be found.

The growers said they believe the national debate on immigration has driven many pickers out of the fields because pickers fear deportation, if they are in this country illegally, or at least harassment by federal officials.

President Bush and Congress have made pickers nervous by debating measures to cut down on illegal immigration, to set up a guest worker program and to prosecute undocumented workers or those who employ them.

At Ridgefield, grower Will Thompson said he's been able to hire only 30 pickers even though he needs 160 to harvest his 55 acres of strawberries. Another farmer hired his crew away from him by promising higher wages and a longer picking season, Thompson said. He declined to say who the competing farmer was.

Cutthroat hiring competition is new, Thompson said. It illustrates how desperate some farmers are for pickers. He said he's working with a Salem, Ore., contractor to bring in another 130 pickers.

North of Vancouver, grower Bill Zimmerman said his usually reliable crew of 25 Hispanic pickers "just didn't show up. I don't know if it has to do with immigration, or if they just found other work in landscaping or construction. It could be a difficult year for finding pickers."

Zimmerman said his year-round crew of five is handling the picking on his four acres of berries. He and his wife, Peggy, are selling berries for $15.95 for a 10-pound flat at their farm store at at 9504 N.E. 119th St.

In Woodland, Lisa Donald, granddaughter of Jerry Dobbins, Southwest Washington's largest strawberry grower, said Dobbins is running only around 100 pickers where he typically employs as many as 275 to pick 125 acres of berries at 1405 Goerig Road.

Another Clark County grower, who asked not to be named in print, said he has the 100 pickers he needs to harvest 75 acres. "It's a real squirrely world out there, with this border patrol. We hope the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) lays off of us. I think all these guys are legal. But you never know," he said.

Crop management specialist Tom Peerbolt, who works with many growers, said the picker shortage is a big problem, especially now that the berries are "in good shape" due to ideal weather. "It's really frustrating for a farmer to do everything right, and then to be unable to get the berries out of the field," he said.

A potential problem is lurking, Peerbolt said. "This cool, mild wet weather has set up a high risk of fruit mold," he said. "That is my main concern. If we keep up on the pick, the mold won't get a handle on the fields. But the weather has set them up to be susceptible to mold. If the crop is overripe for a few days, the mold could catch them."

In east Vancouver, grower Joe Beaudoin said 11 experienced pickers are keeping up with the crop. But he said he would like to have another 20 or 30 pickers, and he isn't sure where he'll find them. He hires many pickers of Russian and Vietnamese heritage as well as Hispanics. His berries sell for $17.95 a flat at Joe's Place Farms, 701 N.E. 112th Ave.

"With immigration, we're going to be in big trouble," he said. "Even this guest-worker program isn't going to work for small growers. If you don't have 100 workers and housing, it won't work. You'll be too small. And if they start sending people back (to Mexico and Central America), our work force will be gone. Not just in fields, but in hotels and restaurants."