Workers were in demand from California's vineyards to Washington state's apple orchards, where 35,000 to 40,000 workers are needed. Hoping to avoid another labor headache, about 40 Valley raisin growers have switched to some form of mechanization. Some say the shift was inevitable. We are one of the few industries that has not mechanized to any great degree but for whom labor is still a problem. But even Nielsen says the change won't happen quickly.
Many growers say the price tag to convert is too high.
Still, of the 270,000 raisin acres in the state, about 2,000 will be mechanically harvested this year. That's double the acreage last year. They aren't just curious, they are interested in getting into it. At Sun-Maid, the nation's largest raisin cooperative, eight years of research has yielded a patented mechanization technique called the Sun Maid South Side system. The cooperative also assists growers with information on how to set up for mechanical harvesting.