As the holiday season nears, as many as 7,000 Christmas tree farmworkers across the state are gearing up for the busiest time of the year.
North Carolina ranks second in U.S. production of Christmas trees, a crop that brings in more than $100 million in sales each year.
About 85 percent of crops must be gathered by hand — but despite this heavy reliance on farmworkers, the group is rarely granted legal protections.
The $71.6 billion agribusiness industry, which includes farming and the processing, wholesaling and retailing of farm products, contributed about 17 percent to the state’s income, according to research from Michael Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University.
Agriculture and agribusiness are North Carolina’s No. 1 industry and account for 17 percent of the state’s employees.
It’s become clear the farmworkers the state relies on so heavily need an ally, said Chris Liu-Beers, a program associate at the N.C. Council of Churches, a group that advocates for farmworker rights.
“What’s aggravating is that the situation is not changing very fast,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do to get any real serious changes.”
And agricultural companies are doing more to protect their farmworkers. Mt. Olive Pickle Company doesn’t directly employ any farmworkers, but it requires its growers to sign compliance statements to emphasize the company’s safety standards, said Lynn Williams, a spokeswoman for the company.
“We work very hard to have a safe workplace in our factories, so we want to reinforce that ideal with our growers,” Williams said.