<p>A looming farm labor shortage has caused San Joaquin Valley Growers to boost wages up to $10 an hour this season.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Growers are hustling to attract and keep a secure agricultural workforce as the labor pool is already tight and crops are ready to be picked, according to the Modesto Bee.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"It is getting very competitive out there, and employers are having to offer incentives to find the labor they need," said Oscar Ramos, a grape farmer and Kingsburg-based farm-labor contractor. "And one of those incentives is higher wages."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Wages have already risen $1 to $1.50 an hour from last year according to farmers.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"The pool is pretty shallow, so everyone is competing for the best men and women," said Modesto-area fruit grower Paul Van Konynenburg.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Farm worker Jose Aceves said "We really appreciate being paid more," Aceves said. "Because we know how hard it is right now for some farms to find enough workers. There just aren't as many people as there used to be."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Tighter border security, increased smuggling costs, and drug-related violence are dissuading people to immigrate from Mexico, historically the biggest source of labor in the valley. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for updates on the labor situation. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.modbee.com/2013/06/09/2755272/valley-labor-shortage-boosts-farmworkers.html" target="_new">Labor Report </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
