Florida’s fruit and vegetable growers say their biggest challenge is ensuring they have enough workers to pick their crops and get them onto grocery shelves."The whole immigration reform issue needs to be addressed at the federal level,” said Marie Bedner, whose family owns Bedner’s Farm Fresh Market west of Boynton Beach. “In Georgia, they had no labor to pick the crops. They rotted in the field."Two labor experts told Bedner and other growers at the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association’s 68th annual meeting Tuesday that if E-Verify becomes mandatory, it would be a disaster for domestic farmers. E-Verify is an electronic system designed to prevent the employment of undocumented workers in the U.S. through a cross-check of Social Security numbers and names.

Keys to a highly engaged work force.

Nov. 9 Webstream and conference call event helps explain the program’s “Know Your Rights: Employee Rights and Responsibilities.”

Aquila Farms ordered to pay nearly $3 million in penalties.

One culture values time and sacrifices relationships. The other fosters relationships over time and productivity.

Muchos productores de leche emplean trabajadores de habla hispana.