May 11, 2007

Labor Shortage Disrupting Michigan Asparagus Harvest

The shortage of farm workers growers have been fearing showed up on Michigan asparagus farms this spring.

“There’s a major problem out there,” Tom Greiner said. “There is asparagus being mowed down because there is no labor to pick it. It’s real bad.

“Growers come in and want to know if we know of any workers available. We tell them we’re having a hard time on our own farm. We do have an ample supply in the packing shed.”

In Michigan, asparagus is a bellwether crop – the first to dip into the migrant worker stream for harvest labor – so a labor shortage affecting asparagus doesn’t augur well for fruit and vegetable crops next in line.

“In Oceana County, this crop is our livelihood,” Greiner said. “We just bought new automated equipment to pack fresh asparagus, but we need product to pack.”

The Michigan asparagus industry has been suffering in recent years, mostly because asparagus from Peru has been displacing Michigan asparagus in the processed market. Historically, some 95 percent of Michigan’s 25 million pounds of annual production goes for canning or freezing.

Todd Greiner Farms Packing has been growing in response to that challenge, building capacity for growers to put more of the tasty vegetable into the fresh market. The company packs much of what it grows plus production from about 30 other growers, about 1.5 million pounds in all.

John Bakker, executive director of the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board, began hearing reports of labor shortages about May 8. In Oceana County, the leading producer in Michigan with about 15,000 of the state’s 25,000 acres, asparagus spears begin emerging about May 1.

Spears are snapped off, by hand, when they reach 5 to 8 inches tall. Weather determines how often picking must take place, but on a warm day spears can elongate half an inch an hour, he said. Daily picking can be needed.

If sufficient labor isn’t available, spears grow less tender and the tips spread, making them unsaleable. At some point, a grower would decide to mow off an unharvested field and start over.

Mowing, Bakker said, takes off all growing spears and sets harvest back 5 to 7 days, or about 2 1/2 pickings.

“The third and fourth pickings are usually the largest,” he said. “We can easily lose 20 percent of the crop in a single mowing.”

“It’s a tragedy for the growers and the packers,” he said.

Prices were looking good this year. Bakker and Greiner said packers were eager to get all the product they good. Prices for processing product were running about 61 cents a pound and about 80 cents for fresh.