An ag labor researcher is studying how growers are dealing with ag worker shortages.

Zach Rutledge with Michigan State University tells Brownfield specialty crop prices are not keeping pace with rising labor costs and farmers want access to more tech-driven solutions.

“What I think moving forward we’ll see is these technologies that are complementing the workers rather than just completely replacing them,” he says.  “I would expect to see more of that being adopted in the short to medium term.”

Examples he says include simple automations like platforms to lift workers in orchards or electronically controlled harvest carts.

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