YAKIMA — Late August marked the start of the Yakima Valley’s six-week blitz to harvest fields of hop plants bound for breweries.

With the citric scent of Centennial hops hanging in the air, Jessica Riel, a fourth-generation farmer at Double ‘R’ Hop Ranches, looked on as her employees unloaded long bines — stems similar to vines — from the backs of white trucks. Their gloved hands guided the plants onto the picking machine for processing.

With a dearth of local workers, Riel has turned to seasonal foreign labor to fill the gaps and complete the yearly harvest. Out of her current workforce of about 100 employees, 42 arrived from Mexico last month.

The goal is always to recruit local employees, and, over the years, we’ve seen the number of available local workers decline,” Riel said.

Brin

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