Country Life
Dairy • C2 Gardening • C3 Classified • C5
Special Section • Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Milking by robots U.S. Labor at Lynden berry here in ‘14 conference: Let’s find solutions coming New DeLaval milking systems will be installed in county
Issues provoked by 2012 incident are talked out, may lead to 2014 training sessions
By Braulio Perez sports@lyndentribune.com
EVERSON — It’s been a long year for Rick VanderVeen and the folks over at DeLaval Dairy Service. VanderVeen, general manager, and his team have been working hard to bring new milking robotic systems, or voluntary milking systems, to the region. Finally, their effort is paying off. In mid-November, the local DeLaval office installed its first VMS in Skagit County at the Mesman dairy farm near Mount Vernon. Next up for VanderVeen and his crew is bringing a robotic unit to Whatcom County. More specifically, it will be at Lynden. “We just had our first installations in Skagit County and we will be installing two units in Lynden at some time
By Calvin Bratt editor@lyndentribune.com
LYNDEN — Three representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor were on hand to make sure local berry growers got their message: Let’s work together. The three sounded a cooperative tone as participants in a “Labor Issues” session on Thursday, Dec. 5, during the Washington State Small Fruit Conference at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds. Juan Coria came from San Francisco and Sheila Creel and Donna Hart from Labor’s Seattle Wage and Hour Division. They were joined on a panel by Ignacio Marquez, new community liaison with the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Together, the officials addressed labor issues that were thrust upon farmers’ minds in July 2012 by a surprise U.S. Department of Labor crackdown in a West Badger Road blueberry field. “We’re trying to educate ourselves and that will impact how we move forward,” said Juan Coria, a deputy regional administrator for Labor in Western states. In the enforcement action, a Lynden berry grower ended up paying about $76,000 on Labor claims of having children in the field and not keeping proper records of fruit picked. The fed-
Berry grower Darryl Ehlers chats with Juan Coria and Donna Hart of the U.S. Department of Labor after a session on Washington State labor issues. (Calvin Bratt/ Lynden Tribune)
eral agency invoked a “hot goods” provision of law that entirely stopped the blueberry crop’s harvest until the issue was settled — about a week later. The “hot goods” action on a perishable crop especially rankled local growers, who say it forces them into a critical decision on whether to lose a year’s harvest. Another issue is the sharing of one ticket by a family of pickers, instead of individual tickets for each person picking. Hart called that issue “daunting” because it is so ingrained in the culture of migrant Hispanic families. However, she has heard
of procedures such as not allowing access to a field unless each picker has his or her own ticket, possibly by some form of electronic check-in. “We are looking for solutions and we hope you are looking for solutions too,” Hart said. Al Schreiber, executive director of the Washington Blueberry Commission, thanked the U.S. Labor people for coming to speak at the conference. He said he hopes this is the start of a greater understanding of issues on all sides, “but we’ll see.” Schreiber called the “hot goods” enforcement tactic “unfair” and he feels blueberry farmers especially have
been targeted. On the other hand, to growers he insisted that the law is not the same as it was decades ago. “The rules are the rules are the rules, and we have to follow them. There’s no getting around that,” he said. A ticket is needed for every berry picker, and no children can be allowed in fields even for tasks such as babysitting, Schreiber said. Training sessions may be held as early as next February in northwest Washington to help educate both employers and workers on the rules that the U.S. Department of Labor
Cloud Mountain testing out a new vegetable processing line EVERSON — Cloud Mountain Farm Center, 6906 Goodwin Rd., is nearing completion of a new fresh vegetable processing facility. Once operational in early 2014, the facility initially will focus on the processing of locally grown vegetables, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, lettuce and
See Berries on C2
Merry Christmas
in February,” VanderVeen said. “Those will be the first ones in Whatcom County and we’re very excited about that.” VanderVeen requested to keep the name of the farm where the installations will take place private. However, it’s a pretty big deal for local farmers, he said. The robotic systems make milking cows extremely easy and much safer, VanderVeen added. “Basically, we transition from fetchers of cows to motivators of cows,” VanderVeen said. “It’s better for the cows too. They’re not tied up to the clock for milking. For the cows, it’s much more convenient. It’s much safer as well. “The cows pay the bills, so it’s in our best interest to keep them healthy and take care of them. The VMS does that. It’s really a huge stride in technology,” VanderVeen said. Although the robotic system is just now being introduced to northwest Washington, it has been around elsewhere for over 20 years. “DeLaval has installed See DeLaval on C3
salad mixes. The vegetables processed through the facility will also be used locally in farm-to-school food programs. The facility is currently testing the equipment. Funding support came from the Whatcom Community Foundation, USDA Rural Development, Washington State Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant program and the Washington State Department of Commerce. The Northwest Agriculture Business Center purchased the equipment for use in the facility with grant money.
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