Farm labour strategies vary S


There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to the challenge of securing good help. By Susan McIver


econd only to the weather, finding reliable employees willing to put in a good day’s work is the biggest challenge for many growers.


To meet this challenge, grape and tree fruit producers use a variety of strategies ranging from employing foreign workers under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) to doing all of the work themselves. In the face of increasing labour difficulties, Jozsef Breti, vineyard manager for Quails' Gate Winery in West Kelowna, turned to the SAWP for help. Seven Mexicans arrived at the end of March and will work alongside five regular employees through August. “We were among the last of the large wineries here to hire Mexicans,” said Breti.


Breti is in charge of 200 acres of vineyard located in West Kelowna and Kelowna and a 20-acre planting in Osoyoos.


In 2014, he hired more than 60 people in order to maintain the needed 25 workers in his summer crew, which was comprised mainly of high school and university students.


“They didn’t show up for work. Also, their phones and Facebook were a big issue,” Breti said.


He was quick to add that there were “a few exceptionally good kids.”


Breti has had few problems with his harvest crew, which SUSAN MCIVER


Oliver orchardist David Machial and his father Joe have hired Mexican workers since 2007.


begins work in mid-September. It consists of locals and some transients and is paid by the amount picked rather than by the hour.


Reliability issues led Oliver fruit grower David Machial and his father Joe to hire their first two Mexican workers in 2007.


They added another the following year and the same three men have returned each year since. “We went through 15 people just to pick the Goldens the year before we hired the Mexicans,” David said.


Approximately 80 per cent of the Machials’ 22 acres of orchard is planted in apples and the remainder in cherries, apricots and nectarines. “We still need to hire 5-7 extra people for cherry harvest and 4-5 for apple harvest,” David said. It’s common for vineyard workers to leave their jobs to pick cherries because it pays better. Getting help for apple harvest, however, is more difficult for the Machials.


“The kids are back in school, the transients have gone home, people make more money in vineyards and picking apples is harder work,” David said. The Machials have found the cost of the Mexican workers (airfare, accommodation, wages and benefits) to be comparable to hiring Canadian labour.


“The difference is reliability. The Mexicans are under contract to stay with you,” David said. Without the seasonal workers, David and his father would consider downsizing.


SUSAN MCIVER


Jozsef Breti, vineyard manager for Quails' Gate, now employs seasonal workers from Mexico.


10


Labour problems figured prominently in Dave Powell’s decision to reduce his Summerland apple orchard from 30 acres to 10.


British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2015


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