Lettuce-packing facilities are wet, loud, and freezing — and much of the work is physically taxing, even mind-numbing. Now, a fleet of robots designed to replace humans, has become one of the agriculture industry’s latest answers to a diminishing supply of immigrant labor, reports The New York Times (Nov. 24, 2018). Smart machines can assemble 60 to 80 salad bags a minute, double the output of a worker.
Enlisting robots makes sound economic sense, with Americans’ insatiable appetite for healthy fare, at a time when companies cannot recruit enough people to work in the fields or the factory. A decade ago, people lined up by the hundreds for jobs at packing houses during the lettuce season. No more. But moving up the technology ladder creates higher-skilled positions that attract young people.
A 2017 survey found 55% of farmers reported labor shortages– 70% for those who depend on seasonal workers. About 3/4 of U.S. crop workers were born abroad, and they are overwhelmingly illegal. Beefed up border enforcement has rendered “follow-the-crop” migration a relative rarity.
California’s $54 billion agricultural industry is leading the move to automate in the fields and packing plants. Driscoll’s, the berry titan, has invested in several robotic strawberry harvesting start-ups which use imaging technology to assess a berry’s ripeness before it is harvested. Christopher Ranch, a giant in garlic, began using a 30-foot-tall robot to insert garlic buds into sleeves for sale in supermarkets. Bartley Walker now offers a robotic hoeing machine with a detection camera capable of identifying the weeds that sprout between row crops like broccoli and cauliflower. One machine replaces 11 workers. About 60% of the romaine lettuce and half of all cabbage and celery produced by Taylor Farms are harvested with automated systems. (Delicate fruit, like peaches, plums and raspberries will remain labor intensive for the foreseeable future).
Classroom discussion questions:
- How is technology changing the crop industry?
- What can be done to resolve the labor shortage?
We can use roborts instead of the labour beause it seems to be more convient and cheaper, more working hours, no need of breaks as well