09/15/06 Labor shortage at potato harvest

Some Idaho potato growers are having a hard time finding workers for this year's harvest. The Department of Commerce and Labor says the number of farm workers in Idaho has decreased as much as 18 percent in some areas. Keith Esplin of the Potato Growers of Idaho knows that all too well. ESPLIN "Non-farm job growth has been tremendous in Idaho. I think I've seen figures where we were the top in the nation in that category and so there's just a lot of other jobs. The construction industry has been booming including here in eastern Idaho. That's part of it." More than 31 thousand non-farm jobs have been created in Idaho in the past 12 months and the state's unemployment rate was 3.3 percent in August, the 16th straight month of unemployment below four percent. That's the figure most economists view as full employment. ESPLIN "Efforts to tighten border security with Mexico have been ongoing, been in the news, its pretty obvious, and its working. We've had a lot of workers who moved back and forth freely and they're not getting here this year and that's a big part of the problem too." Growers are looking for truck drivers, sorters, cellar workers and others. Esplin says most growers will train and try to accommodate employees who are interested in the part time work during harvest. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott