The terrible wages of our failure to pass comprehensive immigration reform [jdub]

Via Kaus. So, it appears that a tomato farmer in Pennsylvania is having problems recruiting enough [ahem] migrant workers (at an average of $16 / hr!) to bring in a tomato crop. He’s being put out of business, right? The fascists are putting the squeeze on good ol' American farmers!

This year, he is planting about 45 acres of sweet corn, and 1,200 acres of corn for grain.

Oh. Of course, that’s the next to last sentence in the original piece, and isn’t mentioned at all in the new piece. He's being forced to do it, however, because corn harvests are easier to mechanize and require far fewer workers. Could there be any other explanation for the fact that this poor American hero is being forced to switch from tomato to corn farming?

As Kaus notes:

So let's see: Corn prices soar. Farmer decides to plant corn. It's the yahoos fault!

Oh. I wonder why that's not suggested anywhere in the source articles. (And why there's no mention at all in the newer report that he's not, in fact, being put out of business.) Thanks, deciders.

posted by xgenghisx at 10:15 AM

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