YUMA, Ariz., Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Tight U.S. borders and rising demand for day workers in other industries are hurting Arizona lettuce farms and raising store prices, a farmers group says.
The tighter border with Mexico is discouraging illegal crossings and demand for day laborers in higher-paying industries such as construction has driven wages up by at least $2 an hour to more than $8.50, Yuma, Ariz., Fresh Vegetable Association President Rick Rademacher said.
Even after offering higher wages, many farms still do not have enough workers to bring the crops in, The Christian Science Monitor reports.
Rademacher says he would like to see the U.S. guest-worker program expanded to ease the Yuma labor crunch. This would ensure he can get his crop in and sell it to supermarkets at prices competitive with imported vegetables, he says.
A 10 percent increase in farm labor costs results in a 6 percent jump in the price of a head of lettuce, said Albert Kagan of Arizona State University's National Food and Agricultural Policy Project.
The Yuma area produces 95 percent of the nation's home-grown winter lettuce and 90 percent of its winter vegetables, the Monitor says.
