N.S. farmers looking for pickers to harvest bumper berry crop
It’s a race against time in Webster Farms’ strawberry fields in Nova Scotia.
“You can let a field go for four days but that is pushing it,” says farm manager Jordan Eyamie.
Ripe berries don't wait for anyone, so the rush is on for Eyamie to harvest the nearly 20 acres of berries at the farm in Cambridge. Finding local help has been nearly impossible.
“We used to get kids come. Even three years ago I had people call me wanting to pick but now I get maybe one phone call a year,” Eyamie says.
Eyamie now employs temporary foreign workers from Mexico to get the job done.
“Some of these guys are making over $20 an hour, between $20 and $30,” she says.
Without them?
“This would not get picked. There is no way,” Eyamie says.
Temporary Foreign Workers pick strawberries in a field in Cambridge, N.S. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)
It’s not just her farm; bumper crops are growing across the province.
“It was a good spring. It wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t wet, it wasn’t too cold. It was just good growing conditions for the spring and so everything just came a little bit early,” says William Spurr, president of Horticulture Nova Scotia.
Spurr grows berries on about two acres on his farm in Wilmot where those good growing conditions produced ripe berries up to 10 days early.
“I wasn’t expecting it to come as early as it did,” he said.
A Temporary Foreign Worker picks strawberries in a field in Cambridge, N.S. (Source: Jonathan MacInnis/CTV News Atlantic)
Luckily, Eyamie was ready, meaning the $650,000 strawberry crop will mostly get picked.
The workers will be harvesting the fields until early Monday evening and the strawberries they're picking will be on store shelves as early as Tuesday.
For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Shameful': Monument honouring fallen soldiers included names of living veterans
Veterans are asking for answers after discovering that two sculptures in Ontario honouring fallen soldiers include the names of many people who are very much alive.
'If it ain't broke don't fix it': U.S. ambassador warns Canada against cutting Mexico out of trilateral trade deal
Cutting Mexico out of the current North American free trade deal 'may not be the best path to take,' says U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Cohen.
Canada's air force took video of object shot down over Yukon, updated image released
The Canadian military has released more details and an updated image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023.
Cookie inflation: How much more is your holiday baking costing you this year?
Estimate how much more your Christmas cookies will cost to bake this year compared to the past five years using Statistics Canada's monthly average retail price data.
Smash and grab: Canada sees a spike in jewelry store robberies
Many cities across Canada are seeing a spike in jewelry store robberies in recent months.
Invasive species could be hiding in your Christmas decor. Here's how to stop the spread
Make sure to look through your holiday decorations, as Christmas trees, wreaths, and other natural decor can have invasive insects, eggs, and plants that pose a threat to local ecosystems and the economy.
This watch was carved from a meteorite that hit Earth a million years ago
A new watch from design duo Toledano & Chan has been carved from a meteorite that slammed into Earth around one million years ago.
Police find bag carried by gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO, say he likely fled NYC on bus
Investigators found a backpack in Central Park that was carried by the shooter, police said Friday, following a massive sweep to find it in a vast area with lakes and ponds, meadows, playgrounds and a densely wooded section called 'The Ramble.'
A police photographer recounts the harrowing day of the Polytechnique massacre
Montreal crime scene photographer Harold Rosenberg witnessed a lot of horror over his 30 years on the job, though nothing of the magnitude of what he captured with his lens at the Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989. He described the day of the Montreal massacre to CTV Quebec Bureau Chief Genevieve Beauchemin.