Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/34759
Summer Fruits H-2A PROVIDES dedicated workers But recent rule changes made the program more expensive. by Richard Lehnert T itan Farms has used H-2A foreign guest workers for 13 years, but rule changes to the program this year have been troublesome. In 2010, growers paid $7.25 an hour to hire H- 2A workers, and that was based on prevailing wages in similar jobs in the fruit industry in South Car- olina and Georgia. Last year, the rules were changed to base the rate on wages paid in all agricultural jobs in a three-state region. “We’ve still got to figure out a fairer way to do it, but this is unrealistic. And they think it’s going to encourage more Americans to work, but it doesn’t,” said Chalmers Carr III. “The new higher wage rate does encourage more local workers to apply, but nobody stays,” he said. “Since last November, we hired over 213 local workers who applied for jobs, and only two are still here on the farm. Some Female H-2A workers do the sorting at Titan Farms, enforcing a high quality standard that assures loads won’t be rejected. didn’t make it eight hours. Most of them quit. Maybe 10 to 20 percent were dismissed for production reasons; they couldn’t keep up. “We certainly can’t get the job done hiring local work- ers. This is our thirteenth year hiring H-2A workers, and while it’s expensive, it works well for us. Hiring local work- ers involves more staff, more paperwork, and more train- ing, but we don’t get more workers. While the intentions were good, it didn’t work.” Under H-2A rules, workers can be brought into the country for ten months at most. “We try to give all our workers seven to nine months of work,” he said. While harvest season requires the most labor, Carr puts together a work package, combining peaches and vegetables, that carries some workers through ten months. Chalmers finds the H-2A workers dedicated to per- forming a quality job for the company and earning money for their families, so they work quickly and effi- ciently, and come back year after year. Good training and housing become a good investment. He provides on-site housing in camps for workers and has been experimenting with configuration. Some house three workers per room and had 13 bedrooms, but that puts a huge strain on kitchen facilities. His newer units house 16 workers in four bedrooms, relieving pressure on kitchen facilities. “Labor for us is the key,” Carr said. “We have central heat and air in every camp we have, and we have reduced occupancy in all our camps in an effort to make the environment after hours more pleasing for our employees.” Titan Farms provides shopping opportunities for workers. Every weekend, they board a bus for a shopping center about 13 miles away, usually Walmart, where they spend about four hours shopping, doing their laundry, and taking care of other needs. • MR. Peach C halmers Carr III is active in the South Carolina peach industry, as well as his own business. His efforts have been recognized by the South Car- olina Peach Council, which this year named him Mr. Peach. He’s been a leader in urging growers to become involved in genetic peach research initiatives to advance the nutritional benefits of peaches and lead to improved fruit quality in the peach industry. Carr also urges fellow growers to voice their concerns on legislation affecting their industry. He has devoted a lot of time to the H-2A program, where rule changes this year increased his labor costs some 28 percent— more, if you count all the side effects (see “H-2A provides dedicated workers”). Carr serves on the board of the National Clean Plant Network. Working with Dr. Simon Scott at Clemson University, he maintains 38 mother blocks of virus-tested, variety-certified trees at his farm from which three, large Tennessee nurseries take budwood each year to propagate new trees. “When plum pox came into the industry, we got pretty concerned about propagated material,” Carr said. Growers pay five cents per tree royalty and an additional two cents per tree directly to nurseries for each new tree planted. Those seven cents help fund Simon’s testing program, which involves peach grow- ers in South Carolina and Georgia, Chalmers said. Nothing goes to the growers who contribute the budwood. Chalmers is also on the advisory council for the RosBREED program, which has received a four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Spe- cialty Crops Research Initiative to deliver improved plant materials more efficiently and rapidly. He was a big influence in getting the peach breeding program restored at Clemson University and gives high marks to the new breeder, Dr. Ksenija Gasic. —R. Lehnert 18 JULY 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com richard lehnert