California Fresh Fruit on offensive over water, labor

As California fruit growers wait for effective tools to mechanically harvest their crops the association that represents about 85 percent of the industry is on offense, hoping to secure wins in water and labor issues. Survey California farmers up and down the state and the top issue they likely will cite is water. The cost of labor, and regulatory burdens associated with it, are also high on that list, particularly because the industry must rely on labor-intensive harvest crews to pick fruit. There are stories to suggest that labor shortages across the agricultural spectrum last year left growers with unharvested fruit.