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Washington produces more apples than any other state. Almost three of every five apples in the United States are grown here, according to Washington's agricultural information page. That's somewhere between 10 billion and 12 billion each year -- and every apple is picked by hand.

That is, when hands are available.

Sensitive to labor fluctuations
Gov. Chris Gregoire called the labor shortage "dire" in mid-October, and took a group of farmers to the other Washington (D.C.). There they urged opposition to a proposed bill requiring employers to use the E-Verify Internet-based employment system before hiring workers.

During her visit Gregoire suggested that Congress find ways to get more workers into the country to keep harvests from rotting in the fields. The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash., reports that Washington apples aren't the only crop affected by labor shortages:

In Alabama, where a new state law is aimed at cracking down on illegal immigrants, the construction, agriculture and poultry industries all report huge shortages of labor. A University of Georgia study this year found that state had a shortage of 5,244 workers in the fields. In California, farmers have complained of too few workers to pick the avocados, and in Texas, growers have appealed with little luck for more help picking their organic crops and vegetables.

Labor is a farmer's third largest expense, according to a 2008 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Paychecks for specialty crops, including fruit, make up 30% to 40% of the farmer's annual cash expenses. This makes such growers "especially sensitive to fluctuations in the cost and availability of labor."

Estimates vary, but Washington newspapers report that anywhere from 72% to 79% of seasonal fruit pickers are in the country illegally. Post continues below.

A disaster for anyone who eats?
On her website, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., calls for immigration reform, saying the current system is "broken." "Fixing our immigration policies is critical for communities and industries in Washington state and across our nation," she writes.

Over the past few years Murray has called for a guest worker program with a path to citizenship.

In a Wenatchee World column called "The high cost of scaring them away," editorial page director Tracy Warner said he's not surprised that unemployed Washingtonians aren't lining up for orchard jobs. "Fruit harvesting is physically difficult and requires a great deal of learned skills to … earn decent money," Warner wrote.

Pickers are normally paid by volume rather than by the hour. An experienced worker can earn $150 to $175 a day, but a newcomer will make as little as $50.

Like Gregoire, Warner was critical of the proposed E-Verify bill.

"Cutting off access to immigrant labor would be a disaster for anyone who works and eats," he wrote. "Cut off their labor, you eliminate their income and their product that pumps wealth through the economy, creates jobs and fills stomachs. Why is that good?"

On Nov. 2, the World reported that the critical labor shortage had passed. The early varieties are all in, and later-ripening apples such as Fuji and Granny Smith tend to be grown in smaller orchards that can be harvested quickly.

No one seems to know whether the previous picker panic will result in higher prices.

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