Who Picked My Peach?

Georgia is known as the “The Peach State” because of its birthplace of the commercial peach industry after the Civil War in the late 1800s. Recently, I travelled 30 minutes south along I-75 to Peach County, the last county to be formed in the state of Georgia. I stopped at Lane Southern Orchards to complete work for a feature that will be published in the upcoming edition of MyTown Monthly. While there, I ate my share of peach ice cream and watched peaches move down the line from harvest to packed for shipment. Workers lined the floor, and above them hung American and Mexican flags, side-by-side. I wondered about these workers. Where are they from? How much are they paid? Where do they live?

Lane Southern Orchards is a fourth generation family-owned farm that was established in 1908. The orchards consist of more than 5,000 acres, with mature peach trees living on more than 2,300 acres. While counting the acreage, I was left speechless at the thought of harvesting this peach crop in the span of a few months. To accomplish such a tremendous seasonal task, Lane hires up to 250 guest workers during the peak of summer.

Guest workers live in housing at the farm, are paid above minimum wage, and help with both picking and packing peaches. Lane participates in a federal work program, called the H2A program. This work program is a cooperative agreement between the American and Mexican governments. In addition to the H2A workers, Lane hires 25 – 50 resident alien domestic workers. The H2A workers are required to return to Mexico at the end of the season, while domestic workers may remain in the United States to work on other crops.

You might ask, “Why does Lane hire workers through a federal work program?”  From what I can gather, it offers Lane and other large growers like Lane a guaranteed work force. Can you imagine searching for and selectively hiring 250 workers for only a few months work each season? Workers experienced with harvesting farms, and legal to work in the United States? The H2A program guarantees workers, and workers with a legal work permit. Some of the H2A workers come to the Lane farm in January to prune peach trees and remain until August when the peach harvest is complete. The majority, however, only are present during the peak summer harvest.

Lane also employs crew leaders who are full-time bi-lingual employees of the company. It is their responsibility to make sure the migrant workers understand how to do their job correctly, but also to assist with their personal needs such as trips to the laundry mat and grocery store. A small restaurant and store that caters to the needs of the Hispanic workers also is located on the farm. A local Hispanic lady runs this business during the summer months only.

Peach production in Georgia averages 20 million pounds. You might think that Georgia ranks first in the nation for production, but it doesn’t. That honor belongs to California. Georgia and South Carolina rank second and third, respectively. Regardless of rank, Georgia peaches taste the best to me. As I bite into sweet nectar harvested from the land I call home, I think about the hands that picked my peach, and all the hands that came before them.

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Tags: Lane Southern Orchards, Migrant Workers, Peach County, The Peach State