It’s another bumper apple crop for northern Michigan farmers – but are there enough workers to pick them?

Growers across the state will harvest approximately 28.74 million bushels of apples this year, according to the Michigan Apple Committee, just shy of the 2013 record-breaking crop of 30 million bushels.

But a dismal 2012 crop and pending federal immigration reform kept some of the workforce far away from Michigan in 2013, where reportedly millions of pounds were left on the ground.

This year, labor struggles continue to plague the crop.

Northport farmers Kathy and Steve Kalchik could use two or three more people on the harvesting crew for their 40 acres of apples. The situation this year is better than last year, Kathy Kalchik says, but only because there are fewer apples – not because workers are aplenty.

In anticipation of a tough labor situation again this fall, the Kalchiks cleared 12 acres of apple trees in early spring. Kalchik says it made “no sense” to grow apples that they couldn’t find workers to harvest so they created more manageable acreage.

The trees they removed were older, large trees that required ladders, she says, which the workers don’t like picking. “They like the small stuff.”

Nikki Rothwell of the Northwest Michigan Horticulture Research Center says she has not heard of labor being “super short” for the apple crop but notes it is always tough in the region for migrant help “because there is no where to go from here.”

Rothwell says the nature of the apple harvest has also changed – from one that was more processing based (for sauce, juice, etc.) to one that has moved into a fresh market, which requires more and better labor.

Chris Alpers of Red Path Orchards in Lake Leelanau has 210 acres of apples and says the shrinking labor force is a “huge concern of ours.”

He says after being six workers short last year, he got a jump on lining up workers for his 2014 season.

“I’m in really good shape this year,” he says. “But there is definitely a shortage among other farmers out there,” adding that he has received calls from them to see if any of his workers have any free time.

“I can provide work from June through November 15,” he says, adding that he also provides housing for seasonal workers.

The situation is similar for Denny Hoxsie, who operates a 12-acre apple orchard with wife Judy in Williamsburg.

“We do not have a worker shortage on our farm as we supply housing and have maintained workers throughout the summer months with the intent that they will be with us for apple harvest,” Hoxsie says.

But he’s also heard firsthand about immigration fears among workers.

“In speaking with some of our workers who come here from Florida, they say that many workers do not want to take the chance of traveling to other states due to strict federal immigration enforcement in some areas like Michigan, and the unwillingness of some states between here and Florida to allow questionably documented workers to pass through their states,” he adds.