Farm Worker Solution

I'm not sure if this would solve all the problems of farm labor but it sure couldn't hurt. Mike Gempler with the Washington Growers League says there are a lot of hands out there that want to work but can't.

GEMPLER: You have people who want to work more but their childcare that they have ends at one or something so they don't work all afternoon, that sort of thing. I'm working with some growers in the Yakima Valley some of whom have 70 to 80% of their harvest workforce comprised of females. It's a significant factor.

The issue is the need for childcare for these workers that is flexible in hours and low cost enough to allow them to still make a living.

GEMPLER: If you could get 20% more hours out of your workforce that'll go a long way towards - or at least part of the way in alleviating labor shortages. I think we really have a lot of motivation to find way to fully utilize our domestic workforce. People who are really good farmworkers who want to work and this is one of those ways to do that.

They have a survey available online to try and gather as much information as possible.

GEMPLER: The survey is a way to find out what's going on on the farms. Last summer we interviewed a lot of people, some growers and a lot of farmworkers and that's when it really became apparent that there were a lot of women who were frustrated they couldn't work more hours.

That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.