<p>Pointing to difficulties in acquiring sufficient labor, Charles Jones, Owner of Charles Jones Produce LLC in Oak Harbor, Ohio, is shutting down operations for the summer, a move that will cost him millions of dollars.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The farm usually employs 500 workers who earn a combined $2.6 million, but tightening immigration regulations have made workers hard to find.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Jones is not alone. Other fruit and vegetable growers across America have also decided to shut down their operations this summer, said Chuck Conner, President and CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives. These crop losses could cost farmers and the American public hundreds of millions of dollars and force the United States to import more food and vegetables, he said, according to the Toledo Blade.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"Seventy percent of the agricultural work force, including the milk industry, is performed by an undocumented work force,” Mr. Conner said. “It’s a problem. Our work force is at risk.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for updates on the situation.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.toledoblade.com/local/2013/06/20/Big-tomato-grower-shuts-down-this-year.html" target="_new"> Labor Report </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
