Sep 29, 2015

Asparagus growers need workers, eVGN May 2013

Michigan’s asparagus growers continue to grapple with labor shortages this year.

“Growers are really challenged to have a reliable labor force,” said Ken Nye, executive director of the Michigan Agricultural Commodities Marketing Association’s Asparagus Division. “Growers in the southwest (Michigan) really struggled a lot with the labor supply. The greenhouse industry really struggled this year and it’s not getting any better.”

Nye stressed the importance of immigration reform to the asparagus industry, acknowledging the problem “will not be fixed today or in 2013, but we’re going to hope for a longer-term fix.”

“We’ve got to get Congress to do something, and for them to recognize the unique challenge for agriculture,” he said. “We need hand-harvest labor and in a consistent way be able to plant a crop and get ready for harvest. There’s nothing more discouraging than a grower planting a field of asparagus without much assurance he will have, in a few years, a reliable source of labor to get the job accomplished.”

Nye said the lack of workers makes operators “skittish about making a long-term commitment. There are no alternatives for asparagus growers like being able to have a machine harvest. We’ve got to have a fix for us, and in 2013 it’s not getting any easier.”

John Bakker, executive director of the Michigan Asparagus Advisory Board, said the labor situation remains “very tight, but until we really get into full production for everyone, we won’t know for sure how we’re doing.”

“I have a hunch if the weather gets warm we will lose some (workers) and it will be tighter than we would like,” Bakker said. “Most of the growers think they’re going to have enough help. No one is panicked about it yet.”

– Gary Pullano