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by lpolovets 346 days ago
This is secondhand and not firsthand knowledge, but one thing I've heard from a number of agtech founders (and sometimes farmers when we do diligence calls with them) is that hiring employees is very hard because of seasonality. E.g. you might need 100 workers most of the year, but 400 for a few weeks when it's picking season. And of course if you are in an area known for a single crop, all of the other local farms have the same seasonal labor need.

For these types of businesses, paying less for labor is a secondary goal and just having enough labor (human or machine) is the primary goal.

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The US sugar beet harvest is like that, but seems to have structured itself around that.

Lots of websites recruiting people with RVs to come by and work the 2-3 week season. Others stay in motels or live close enough to drive.

https://www.google.com/search?q=beet+harvest+working

https://www.theunbeetableexperience.com/sugar-beet-harvest-f...

Some places have/had the schools close for the harvest season (and in others, for the start of hunting season).