NorCal Farmers: 'We Don't Have Enough Workers, Produce May Rot In Fields'

NBC11.com ^ | October 8, 2007

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"Cut off the welfare checks to all able-bodied freeloading Americans and watch as they suddenly find themselves motivated to work."

Bump that!

[ari-freedom]

Don’t come crying to government that American laws need to be changed in order to serve you.
-
maybe taxes and minimum wages are too high and there are too many regulations? so the reaction is to turn to the underground economy

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

A lot of the produce I get from Northern CA is in crappy shape by the time I get it here in Southern OR. Let ‘em keep it and California too... I’m outta there anyway...

[Salvation]

Call the Loomis prison. Plenty of help there.

[I see my hands]

"the rich will feel less guilty.."

What do the rich have to feel guilty about?

[TeleStraightShooter]

Some said they believe their fields will end up filled with rotting produce.

The Bush administration has learned of the possible loss of millions of dollars for thousands of farmers

How much is "some"?
Millions of $$$ is but a very small fraction of the agriculture industry.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Cut off the welfare checks to all able-bodied freeloading Americans and watch as they suddenly find themselves motivated to work.

If enough people get hungry, they will get up off the couch and go out to pick vegetables...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CetPq_pkHc

[vetvetdoug]

Isn’t there a employment problem with many folks out there on the West Coast that don’t have jobs? When I was hurting and needed some extra cash I cut pulpwood and firewood. That is labour intensive and hard work and it made me enough money to pay my mortgage and feed me...the work is there if one will get off their lazy asses...

[roamer_1]

This is bullcrap. What has it been, 3 months since ICE has actually started enforcing the law? Whatever deportation has occurred is hardly even a drop in the bucket.

This article implies a condition where all the illegal aliens have left and there is no one to pick our crops. How absurd. If there is no one to pick the fields, it can only be because the Mexican illegals won't do the jobs Americans won't do either.

[tcrlaf]

38 Million illegals, and they can’t get enough farm labor???

Time to by one of new-fangled mechanical thingy’s, ain’t it?

[FunkyZero]

I can tell you, there are machines to dig potatoes and machines to dig onions. If you can do that, you can dig carrots, pick strawberries and cut lettuce... and I am assuming they don’t already exist.
I will pay double or triple for vegetables, it’s a small price to pay. Or I’ll just stop eating them if they can’t produce them cheap enough and pay like every legit business in this country. This entitlement mindset just infuriates me.

[tcrlaf]

The Illegals that he needs to pick his crop are all maing $12 an hour at my local McDonald’s....

[Tzimisce]

...gee, I guess we should grant amnesty now right?

I’m glad our media unbiased, non partisan and never tries to manipulate politics...:D

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"I’d rather pay $20.00 for a pound of carrots picked by legals than $2.00 for a pound picked by illegals."

Gotta call B/S on that one ... you either don't eat carrots or you've got more money than you know what to do with.

[Madame Dufarge]

Nail - head.

[Stayfree]

Where is the “Barf Alert”?

[Alouette]

Why don’t they hire all the “Silicon Valley” software engineers who lost their jobs to China and India?

[Sig Sauer P220]

Sounds like the fumigation is having an effect.

[Elyse]

If you can't find the labor you want and need for your business, then here's some free capitalist advice: Go out of business like the failure you are.

EXACTLY! If you hadn't used unfair business practices to build up your business, then you probably wouldn't have so many acres planted that you couldn't manage and the vegetables wouldn't be rotting in the fields right now. I don't care if every one of these farmers go out of business because they used illegal workers to profit over other law-abiding farmers