Agri sector frets crops as flu scare delays laborers
May 04, 2009
Hundreds of farmers in North Carolina who depend on seasonal migrant workers may not get Mexican laborers in time for planting this month because of the global outbreak of swine flu.
The migrant workers travel across the border each year to plant, cultivate and harvest tobacco and sweet potatoes, which are dependent on manual labor. North Carolina is the nation's leading producer of those two crops, and hundreds of farmers rely almost exclusively on the migrants to work their fields.
Without the laborers, the crops could be lost, damaging the state's agricultural economy. Tobacco and sweet potatoes together generate more than $700 million for North Carolina's farmers each year. Even planting a few weeks late can have ruinous effects.
The News Observer (Raleigh)
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