Washington cherry growers struggle to find pickers [View all]
Source: Yahoo! News/The Spokesman-Review Spokaine, WA
Thu, June 19, 2025 at 10:06 PM EDT
Jun. 19—The threat of federal immigration agents raiding orchards in central Washington is causing a labor shortage that has compelled some Washington producers to leave cherries unpicked or delay their harvests until the fruit overripens and is worth less money.
At least one cherry grower in the Mattawa area has already lost about 300 bins, each weighing between 350 and 400 pounds, said Erik Zavala, a horticulturist and director of field staff for Wenatchee-based Blue Bird Inc., which is a grower-owned cooperative of hundreds of family farms.
"People watch the news," Zavala said, referring to masked federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detaining persons off the street. "It's definitely having an impact.
"I don't care about that stuff. I just know that this is affecting the growers directly whether they are Democrat or Republican or whatever. These growers will lose a lot of money and are risking losing their farms because of a lack of labor." The official position of President Donald Trump's administration on agriculture workers keeps changing.
Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/washington-cherry-growers-struggle-pickers-020600192.html
Mattawa is in Grant County, WA, where the County voted 67% for 45 and is solid R.
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