Boggiatto Produce in Salinas, California, produces 750,000 boxes of Brussels sprouts a year. Across all of its sites, Boggiatto Produce covers 4,500 acres, some of which is on contract. Due to its proximity to the sea, fog rolls in creating good growing conditions for Brussel sprouts in the area.

Average rainfall is 12.5 inches and the plants are watered using drip irrigation to avoid losing water due to wind with a sprinkler system.

Production is based in Salinas from July through to December. But from January to April it is in Mexico where the climate is better for winter crops. Boggiatto Produce also grows artichokes and romaine lettuce.

Dog-eat-dog business

“Retail is a dog-eat-dog business so we supply food service,” president and CEO of Boggiatto Jeff Hitchcock told the SAYFC study trip to California.

“Commercial vegetable production started in the 1920s here. Sugar beet was a big thing but the land became so expensive that it was no longer viable. There used to be a lot of sugar plants in California but now it's passé.”

Labour

No different to anywhere else in Californian agriculture, labour is a hot topic for Boggiatto Produce. During sprout harvesting, four labourers are needed cutting in front of the harvester, eight people on the trailer packing sprouts into boxes, one harvester driver, two tractor drivers and a forklift driver.

Most of the staff are from Mexico on the H-2A temporary work visa programme.

“They can work for a season here and earn what they would in eight years in Mexico,” Hitchcock said.

“Once they provide you with social security number and ID they can be hired. The US government sets the wage for the H-2A workers at $13.75/hour which is higher than the minimum wage. There is mechanisation coming in the business. We have a lettuce-thinning machine, so one driver can do what it took 20 to do.”

The immigrant workforce is still in strong demand in the US

The main barrier to mechanical harvesting of fresh produce seems to be plant breeding.

Mechanical harvesters need uniformity in size and ripening time for fruit or vegetables and also cannot damage the fruit.

For the moment, the immigrant workforce is still in strong demand in the US.

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