Ride through rural South Georgia this time of year and you'll see teams of migrant workers picking sweet onions from the field. Farmers have struggled for decades to use a federal program to get documented workers. At one Tattnall County farm, a labor crisis may have helped find a solution.
Gary Ray looked behind him as a machine replaced dozens of workers harvesting onions from his field. For years, his family has endured the red tape to get legal migrant workers through a federal program. He says this year, the workers didn't show.
They've let the onions dry in the field a day or two longer than usual to help them withstand bruising. If they can collect their crop with just a quarter of the labor - and find them local - they could say goodbye to the federal program and leave them in the dust.