Who Didn't See This Coming?

And next will be the much higher prices of fruit and produce in grocery stores.

Tougher US-Mexico border controls are having an acute impact on American produce growers, farmers groups say, with tonnes of fruit and vegetables left rotting amid crippling labor shortages.

Farms across the United States are reporting shortfalls in the number of available workers, which in many cases has caused crops to go unpicked.

Blame for the lack of labour is laid squarely at the door of a crackdown on illegal workers crossing the US-Mexico border and the absence of flexible legislation that would allow farmers to hire workers on a seasonal basis.

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