News

Specialty crop growers turn to tech solutions at GL Expo

Specialty crop growers are eyeing how technology can cut labor needs at this year’s Great Lakes Expo.

Michigan Vegetable Council Executive Director Greg Bird tells Brownfield farmers feel defeated by the lack of improvements and rising costs that come with using the H-2A season guest worker program, the main supply of their labor, and are downsizing.

“I think we’re losing acres because it’s too expensive and so some farmers are maybe putting in solar, maybe putting in corn and soy, or selling it for development,” he shares.  “It’s not mass exodus, but we need to find a solution.”

Leafy green grower Adam Van Dyk has a crew of nearly 200 H-2A employees and says that increasing cost, along with inputs and the pressure of more imports have made it difficult to remain profitable.

“In five years, you know, it’ll be the question of scaling back and into what volume,” he says.  “I could list off pretty quick multiple crops that I talked to at this show and they’ve already scaled back significant volume. That’s just the trend currently that we’re seeing in ag due to prices.”

Automatic asparagus harvesters, robotic-arm apple harvesters, and laser weeders are just some of the new technologies on display at this week’s event. 

Van Dyk says he’s excited to see what innovations might work on his farm, but he’s afraid of what the ramifications of lost specialty crop acres across the U.S. will be.