KALAMAZOO (Michigan) GAZETTE

May 23, 2007

Farmers: Pickings slim for field hands

And hard-working Americans hard to find

By Jane C. Parikh

Anthony Woodruff hasn't had a full-time job since October.

Searching through job postings Tuesday at the Michigan Works office at 1601 S. Burdick St. in Kalamazoo, the 23-year-old Kalamazoo man said he's been mowing lawns to try to make ends meet and may do so until he finds something better.

He is looking for a job in production or assembly work, a virtual pearl these days in Michigan's employment sea -- a sea that has seen more than 336,000 jobs sail away in the past six years.

But that's not enough to inspire Woodruff to work in farming -- which is perhaps the state's oldest production job, and full-time work that he could probably start immediately.

``The pay isn't enough,'' Woodruff said as he sat in front of a computer at the unemployment office, searching for work. ``On the other hand, if I needed work bad enough, I would do it.''

Michigan farmers say things aren't bad enough for most Americans to work in crop harvesting, even those without jobs. At the same time, fewer migrant farm workers -- who have for years been the backbone of field harvesting work -- seem to be heading north.

``Americans don't want to and they don't have to (do the work), because they are making money other ways,'' Lawrence-area farmer Bob Colgren said.

Others say long days of demanding physical labor in the sun -- often starting at the minimum wage of $6.95 an hour -- is not a cherry job.

``You don't see a lot of people who want to work seasonal part-time jobs,'' said Jan Earl-Woods, co-owner of Earl's Farm Stand in Fennville, which has produced strawberries, raspberries and blueberries for about 30 years. Speaking of Americans, she said, ``If they can draw unemployment, I guess they're a lot happier that way.''

About 90,000 migrant laborers and their families traditionally travel to Michigan each year to work, according to the Michigan Interagency Migrant Service Committee. But the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth reported early this month that it expects that number to drop by more than 30 percent this year.

Without enough workers to harvest them, crops that need to be harvested by hand, such as peaches, tomatoes, apples and grapes, can sometimes be left to rot in orchards or fields, said Mark Longstroth, a horticulturalist at the Michigan State University Extension office in Paw Paw. So the need for migrant farm workers is considered great.

Colgren blames the worker shortage on the ongoing debate in Congress about immigration reforms, which has caused some migrant workers to stay in Mexico for fear of harassment once they enter the United States. But, he said, he also thinks some migrant farm workers who have traditionally worked in the south during the winter months, then headed north to pick the blueberries, strawberries, apples and asparagus in the Midwest, ``have put roots down and even though they're unemployed, they don't want to have to migrate with their families.''

He said he hasn't bothered to advertise to the general public for help harvesting the apples and cherries he grows because he doesn't think that will attract the workers he needs.

``It's hard work and it's more of a young person's game,'' Colgren said.

He said he used an employment agency several years ago to recruit workers but was disappointed with the work ethic of the people they sent.

``The biggest problem I had was that unless I was in the orchard all the time, there was a lot of drinking going on and I'd end up picking up beer cans,'' Colgren said.

He said his apples and cherries are also harvested in late August and at the start of the school year, ``and I can't have teenagers coming in for only three hours of picking a day. We work seven days a week for five weeks to get it done.''

Colgren has until harvest time to find the balance of the 10 workers he needs to get the job done. He has one thus far.

``In the 25 years that I've been here, I've never been contacted by a farm,'' said Patrick Allkins, president of OnStaff USA's Kalamazoo office, which specializes in finding work for skilled workers.

He said employment agencies like his don't handle placements at farms because field work is considered high-risk by insurance carriers and farmers aren't willing to pay the additional cost.

But Melva Thayer, an assistant case manager at the local Michigan Works! office, said job services have had some success, even if it's not long-term. She said she has been contacted by about five farmers since the beginning of spring and has posted their listings. She said one farmer received calls from 20 people.

``We are able to find folks for them quickly,'' Thayer said. ``Quite a few of our clients will say they are willing to take these jobs until they are able to find something else.''

That's the case with James Jackson, 23, of Kalamazoo, who said he would consider taking a farm job until he finds a landscaping job.

``I'm living with my sister right now,'' Jackson said. ``I'm not making any money.''

But as he stood outside the Michigan Works! office Tuesday, about six months after his last job ended, he did not appear to be headed for the fields.

Farmers began feeling the worker shortage last season.

``Last year we did have to walk away from a field because we couldn't harvest it,'' said Earl-Woods, of Fennville. ``If we don't have help, we don't have the help. If we lose one-quarter of our strawberries, that's a lot of money.''

Earl-Woods said her peak season is June through August. She said she needs 15 people to help and has four now.

Colgren said he knows asparagus growers who already have been unable to harvest the majority of their crops.

``In the Hart and Shelby areas, I know of growers who have actually had to mow down their fields.,'' Colgren said. ``You've got to pick asparagus every day, and if you can't keep up with it, you lose two or three pickings.''

OnStaff's Allkins said farmers should have started their search for workers six months ago.

``They've got to get out and let people know that they're looking,'' Allkins said. ``That's as important as deciding what seeds you're going to plant and how you're going to harvest those crops.''

But Earl-Woods said, ``I've never had to advertise for help because people just come around. But I haven't seen as many as I usually do.''