HUGE HARVEST, Few Workers

DAYTON - In an eco- nomic climate where jobs seem impossible to come by, one local farmer can't seem to hire employees fast enough.

Dayton's Warren Orchards is

(Above) War- ren Orchards on North Touchet Road in Dayton looks idyllic in early morning light last week. ( Right) Owner Bill Warren loads apples into a truck last Thursday at Warren Orchards. on about 100 acres and pro- duces apples and pears. The orchard is run by Bill Warren who took over in 1994.

Warren is now faced with a difficult situation. After a tough freeze in the Midwest and on the East Coast, then ex- treme drought in other parts of the country, Warren is getting great prices for his fruit. And he has an abundance of fruit, this year being a high production year for his orchard.

But Warren does not have an abundance of people to help get the fruit into bins for sale.

"No matter what we do, we're not filling the ladders," Warren said. "If you don't have labor, you can't pick a crop."

So it's very frustrating, Warren said, to see the crop through the year, planting, pruning and spraying, only to have major setbacks in the home stretch.

"It's not just my problem, it's everybody's problem," Warren said. "The jobs that are downstream, created by the picking, the union jobs at the plant making the cardboard boxes, the jobs in the trucking industry, the jobs of all of the supporting industry, those are all under pressure too because if we don't get the crop in, we don't need anybody to do those other jobs."

Warren now has about nine or 10 pickers working each day. He said he would ideally like to have about 16 to 18.

Orchard foreman Eloy Gar- cia said he has been working at the orchard for six years and supports his wife and children with his picking wages.

Garcia said it has been more difficult to find labor dur- ing harvest than in past years, but that every orchard has been struggling to find workers.

"It's probably not getting better anytime soon," Garcia said.

In recent years, more wom- en are making their way into the orchard market, Garcia said.

Warren confirmed this, saying during pruning season the workforce is about 40 percent women and there has been a steady influx of women picking the fruit as well. War- ren said there isn't any heavy lifting for employees so there are fewer physical restrictions, which could otherwise keep women out of the orchard.

"When we look at labor shortages and labor tightness, we have to produce an orchard management system to make labor more efficient," Warren said.

And efficiency is good news for the laborers as well who are paid by the box.

Warren pulled out a ran- dom pay stub from a regular picking laborer and read off the salary. On that particular day, the picker was able to pick seven to nine bins per day at $25 per bin. Most bins are worth $17 each but that worker was picking honey- crisp apples, which have a thin skin and bruise easily, making them more valuable in prime shape.

Warren said most workers are able to do one or more bins per hour and at $17 per bin on a seven hour day, the average laborer makes about $119 per day. Faster workers will make as much as $22 per hour.

Not just anyone can roll into the orchard and make money, though. Warren said he has had employees show up without a strong work ethic and while their speed doesn't make too much of a difference to him, the way they treat the fruit does.

Bruised and damaged fruit is useless and workers who don't manage their time well or treat the fruit improperly will not find the job very lucra- tive.

"Our job as the support and quality control crew is to make the job as easy as possible," Warren said. "When (the pick- ers) make money hellip; we make money too, so it's a win-win situation."

Warren said his foreman has good connections in the Walla Walla Valley and is a very personable man, which helps bring in employees. Even with that help,

Ultimately, with competi- tive pay and clean restrooms, Warren said that family atmo- sphere is one of the biggest draws he can use to entice workers to come to the or- chard.

"It's a family farm, not a corporate farm," Warren said.

And at the end of the day, Warren keeps one phrase in mind to keep everything in perspective.

"We're somebody else's disaster away from a disaster ourselves," Warren said.