Immigrants Turn to Farm Work Amid Building Bust

An unexpected piece of good news about the building slowdown. Those immigrant workers have turned to farm work, where there is a tremendous shortage of workers. DP

Growers Regain A Source of Labor; Wage Gap Narrows
By MIRIAM JORDAN

online.wsj.com: The building bust is turning out to be an unexpected boon for another industry, agriculture, as many Hispanic immigrants who lost construction jobs return to the fields in search of work.

In recent years, the ranks of farm workers had been thinned by a crackdown on illegal immigration coupled with the lure of better-paying construction jobs. That left farmers scrambling to find workers to harvest labor-intensive crops. Now, growers and labor contractors from Florida to California are reporting that former carpenters, dry wallers and painters are returning.

"We had seen the labor supply dwindling year after year," said Richard Quandt, president of the Grower-Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. This year, "we are surprised to have a lot of workers." The area grows strawberries, greens, broccoli, grapes and other vegetables and fruits.

As he prepares to harvest peaches, plums and other stone fruit in the San Joaquin Valley, farmer Pat Ricchiuti Jr. said "there is plenty of help." When the harvest is in full swing next month, his P-R Farms Inc. in the Fresno, Calif., area will require 500 to 700 workers. "Let's hope these people who were in construction stick around."

In recent years, real-estate growth fueled an exodus from the countryside. Construction offered full-time, year-round work that was better paying and less arduous than field labor. It also offered opportunities to acquire skills that raise earnings.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.