OLATHE — The sun’s first rays are spilling over Jumbo Mountain when the team clambers aboard the sprawling corn harvester. John Harold joins the pickers as they twist his “Olathe Sweet” sweet corn from the stalks. It’s barely 6 a.m. and the first harvest of the season is underway for the nationally celebrated ears. It’s […]
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Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, COVID, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado growers face “risk like we have never faced before” as coronavirus puts up labor walls
Like nearly all farmers, David Harold is well used to uncertainty. He grew up in his family’s Olathe-based business, Tuxedo Corn, steeped in the inevitable risks tied to weather, shifting markets and labor problems. But he is rattled to his roots by the risk posed by the novel coronavirus pandemic. “The amount of risk we […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, News
In the age of “go back where you came from,” Palisade carries on tradition of thanking orchard workers before they leave
Francisco Pacheco is in his 39th year working the peach orchards around Palisade. He was 17 when he first took a bus from his home in Sonora, Mexico, to join a seasonal crew pruning, thinning and picking peaches. He is about to wrap up a year that has been particularly tough because of sweltering heat […]