Farmers scramble to find workers as some face losing crops

But this year something happened that many local agricultural experts say they've never seen before ---- and feared was coming. Mike A. Mellano, whose family has grown commercial flowers in Morro Hills, one of Oceanside's last large pockets of agricultural land, said he fell short by about 10-15 percent of his labor needs to cut more than 50 varietal flowers on his 400-acre spread. Consequently, some of the product at Mellano & Co., which was established in 1925, was left to die in the field, he said. Mellano said he's been in discussions with farm bureaus across California regarding the labor shortages, and the message has been the same. "This is the first time anyone remembers significant and severe labor shortages reported up and down the state. In the past, they've been limited on a regional basis." Experts say a complicated set of factors is causing the shortage, including tougher border enforcement, improving conditions in Mexico, and a sluggish U.S. economy that is failing to attract as many immigrants...more