[scotty79]

Ok, but that would mean that the price of produce would need to grow nearly just as much. And then nobody would buy it. So at some level of price of labor it's better for the producer to close the shop and take the losses instead of rising wages even more and risking more losses due to crashing demand.

[chrisbennet]

"Labor costs comprise only 6 percent of the price consumers pay for fresh produce. Thus, if farm wages were allowed to rise 40 percent, and if all the costs were passed on to consumers, the cost to the average household would be only about $8 a year."

http://cis.org/articles/2007/back907.html

[tutufan]

That's correct. As a society, we ought to either accept this, and the resultant (probably large) increase in wine prices, or create a legal program for transient low-wage workers.

But by trying to have our cake and eat it too, we're placing illegal workers in a rather unpleasant situation (or motivating them to place themselves in such situations, if you prefer). They're ripe for all kinds of abuse, and lack the kinds of stability we all want.