Business & Tech

Farmers Struggle to Find Help Through Visa, Immigration Issues

New York Times story on farmers, immigration and the American labor pool highlights issues expressed on local level.

The New York Times posted an article Wednesday morning about the relationship between unemployment, farmers, immigrants, the American work force and the federal visa program.

Rep. Tim Bishop, D-Southampton, , saying in June that after speaking with vineyard owners, "all they're concerned about is how are they going to get the grapes off the vine."

Ron Goehler, president of the Long Island Wine Council, said finding local American workers to do that is getting more difficult - "this year was clearly a challenge," he said — and immigration reform is badly needed.

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Click here to read the New York Times article.

"You can't find kids today who do what they used to do," he said. "All they want to do is hang out with with their friends. It never used to be that way.

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"The challenge now is that a lot of people are being sent home," said Goehler, who added that he requires a Social Security number and proper paperwork for all his employees, and pays proper taxes on all of them. "To me, that's not productive. I'm not talking about citizenship here, but we need to make sure that people in the system are qualified and have freedoms."

Joe Gergela, executive director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, said, "usually farm work is too hard for Americans. And many feel it is beneath them. It's hard work and long hours, and they would rather find jobs in other sectors. It's easier to stand behind a counter at McDonald's than pick crops in a field."

"The reality is we depend on a foreign work force not only for agriculture, but for building, trade, hospitality, restaurants — on and on. We're not alone in our need for a good labor pool."


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