re: #326 Anymouse 🌹

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We’re seeing some of that here, particularly with irrigation systems and tracking cattle.

That’ll work for grain, and nuts, and some tree-based fruits, but there’s crops that just can’t be automated — which creates labor shortages for California agriculture.

There’s no way to automate grape harvesting, it needs a knowledgeable, experienced picker to grab this bunch, this one and this one, but leave the ones next to it for a few more days or a week; the pruning that happens every year before the grapes start showing requires a skillful selection of which branches… you can’t just grab it all and throw out the losers, the vintner needs their grapes to be a specific readiness.

They’re actually having a hard time finding enough people, because the guys who’ve been doing it for 40 years can’t continue forever, and it’s become difficult to bring in young trainees (apparently Mexicans are the only people interested in this profession). Same for strawberries, only a human eye can recognize proper ripeness, and only a human hand can pick it without bruising it.

This is one of the many reasons why even the most conservative parts of California aren’t so anti-immigration as conservatives elsewhere.