A surge in immigration enforcement in California's Central Valley during the past two weeks stalled agricultural work in parts of the nation's top farming region, as some workers were detained and others stayed home, Ag Alert reporting republished by the Mid Valley Times said on Wednesday, October 21. FreshPlaza, summarising the same grower accounts on October 21, said increased enforcement disrupted fig and melon harvesting in the valley.

Source: Mid Valley Times

"We are certainly seeing a dramatic uptick in activity over the last week or so," said Heather Riden, program director at the Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety. "The level of stress in many of our agricultural communities is really high." Joe Garcia, president of the California Farmworker Foundation and owner of Delano-based Jaguar Farm Labor Contracting Inc., which employs about 3,000 people in the Central Valley and Central Coast, said arrests at supermarkets and roadsides — and unverified sightings posted online — sent ripple effects through the valley, with worker turnout in some of his crews plummeting. Garcia said he was not aware of federal agents entering any farm properties.

Source: Mid Valley Times

Figs left waiting, melons short-handed

Kevin Herman, owner of Madera-based The Specialty Crop Co., said about half of the roughly 100 workers hired to harvest figs in his orchards missed work for more than a week, so the farm could not ship its full volume of fresh-market figs to retailers across North America. "It's a little bit of a challenge when you have a sales order for five pallets of fruit and you only pick two or three," said Herman, who grows figs and other fruit in Fresno, Madera and Merced counties. He said about a tenth of his fig crop was still waiting to be picked, with citrus harvest set to begin.

Source: FreshPlaza

Joe Del Bosque, owner of Firebaugh-based Del Bosque Farms in Fresno County, said a handful of workers did not report for work harvesting cantaloupe after immigration agents were seen in the area. "It slowed down our crew," he said. "You need everyone to fulfill their part." Del Bosque said the melon harvest, which concluded last week, requires about 20 trained people to drive a tractor, identify ripe melons, pick and pack them and stack boxes with a forklift.

Source: Mid Valley Times

~50 of 100fig harvest workers missing at one Madera company
3,000people employed by Jaguar Farm Labor Contracting
20trained crew members needed for a melon harvest

Enforcement also ramped up this month in parts of Southern California, the Central Coast and the Sacramento Valley, according to community organisations. Giselle Garcia, program director at Sacramento-based NorCal Resist, said on Friday, October 16 that since the prior week her organisation had met or spoken directly with nearly 20 newly detained people or their family members. The Department of Homeland Security declined to provide details about the duration or objectives of the operations, and an ICE spokesperson said the agency would not disclose or discuss law enforcement operations for operational security and officer safety, the reporting said.

Source: Mid Valley Times

California grows more than a third of the nation's vegetables and about three-quarters of its fruits and nuts, with much of that production in the Central Valley, and growers have long warned that raids could threaten food production. Growers quoted in the reporting said a prolonged operation could significantly disrupt production, compared with last year's isolated raids, after which workers generally returned to the fields soon after agents left.