August Farm Labor Series: Labor Remains a Key Aspect of Agriculture

Pryor: Produce, as a whole, is very labor intensive and time sensitive. For the apples that we're growing, we're producing about six-and-a-half-million pounds of apples annually. All apples are picked by hand, as is a lot of produce, and so there's not a machine to take the place of that employee that we need to be able to help us get that job done.

Pryor: For example, consolidating to one agency being the overseeing agency for it. A centralized digital system that farmers like myself feel comfortable navigating on their own, so that we didn't have that added expense of having to use a farm labor contractor. I think that multiple agencies being involved causes some of the delays that happen.

Pryor: Do what you can, whatever that is, and that's going to mean different things for different people. If it means that you can make phone calls when you're driving or send emails, that's great. If you can make the time to attend meetings. If not, just supporting others that do have the opportunity to speak up. As farmers, we know what the problems are, and we need the lawmakers to hear from us.