"Necessity is the Mother of Invention" - how many of us here only program when we have an itch to scratch? Human ingenuity will prevail.
As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
31–40 of 178 posts
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#32Or they could, you know, offer higher wages.
It's not that simple with farming, unfortunately. Worker pay is necessarily based on individual productivity, which can only increase so much [0]. Margins are razor thin for producers to begin with. The vast majority of profits are captured by the manufacturing and distribution. This is why the IRS taxes farm workers and farm employers differently from any other kind of commercial activity. http://nfwm.org/education-…
At least in theory, once the loss due to lack of sufficient number of workers exceeds the cost of raising the wages they should go up and at the cost of margins or increased prices. This should offer nobody a competitive advantage because every farm is likely facing the same issue.
Sadly employers behave like raising wages was not even an option. I guess that's human nature - money going from you pocket is a more tangible expense/loss than money not going into your pocket due to lost profits/opportunity.
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#33It seems like picking a lot of fruits are easily in the realm of what computer vision is capable of these days. What would be the first steps to doing a start up in this space? Anyone interested?
I think the first step would be to work in the area for a while and learn about the real issues. A lot of industries look really easy when you take a quick look from the outside but reality is a little more complex.
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#34It seems like picking a lot of fruits are easily in the realm of what computer vision is capable of these days. What would be the first steps to doing a start up in this space? Anyone interested?
Find the easiest adaptation for the baseline of picking the fruit. E.g. a robot that picks fruit really well.
I’m definitely interested in the farm/cv realm. It takes funding though.
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#35They could also, which is notably mentioned no where in the article, pay more? In a market driven economy...which companies want...employees have market power as well when their is a shortage.
They could pay more. But since what we're really talking about here is the market, the real question is who would pick up the added costs. Are consumers willing to pay the "real cost" of food grown by employees who are paid a fair wage?
It's already been shown in Seattle that raising minimum wage does not raise prices.
Therefore paying these workers more should not raise prices. It might make them rise to middle class though :)
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could pay more. But since what we're really talking about here is the market, the real question is who would pick up the added costs. Are consumers willing to pay the "real cost" of food grown by employees who are paid a fair wage?
It's already been shown in Seattle that raising minimum wage does not raise prices. Therefore paying these workers more should not raise prices. It might make them rise to middle class though :)
Wonderful news! Just set the minimum wage to $100/hr, and we'll be in fat city!
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#37 That’s because immigrant farmworkers in California’s
agricultural heartlands are getting older and not being
replaced.
The Union of Independent, National and Democratic
Farmworkers (SINDJA) calls for all independent and
autonomous boycott committees to unite for a global
day of action on November 19th. We invite all families
to support the International Boycott against
Driscoll’s in solidarity with farmworkers in San
Quintín, Mexico. In the US, when you sit down at
your tables on Thanksgiving Day, we’re asking you
to please think of the farmworkers in San Quintín,
who work 12 to 15 hours a day for as little as 6
US dollars in take-home pay. Meanwhile, Driscoll’s
is making multiple millions in profits.
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#38That’s because immigrant farmworkers in California’s agricultural heartlands are getting older and not being replaced. As others have mentioned it's all to do with the wages that the fruit growers are willing to pay, and Driscoll's (mentioned in the article) have been at the center of controversy about their wages for some time for their practices in Mexico and elsewhere: https://boycott-driscolls.org/ The Union of I…
If you believe this, you just need to buy ag land at today's prices and sell once your hypothesis plays out.
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's already been shown in Seattle that raising minimum wage does not raise prices. Therefore paying these workers more should not raise prices. It might make them rise to middle class though :)
Wonderful news! Just set the minimum wage to $100/hr, and we'll be in fat city!
The Seattle experiment would have to be repeated for higher levels of minimum wage. I would suggest a basic income instead though, then people won't have to pick fruit to survive :)
Re: As California’s labor shortage grows, farmers replace workers with robots
#40They could also, which is notably mentioned no where in the article, pay more? In a market driven economy...which companies want...employees have market power as well when their is a shortage.
They mention raising wages and paying benefits several times in the article.
@Dang--can you remove this user who doesn't read the articles and then makes inflammatory misinformed comments.