A special type of grape raisin was cultivated in Central California that reduces the amount of manpower needed.
Raisins are especially meticulous to prepare and need numerous hand labor to harvest the raisins, then to prune them, which is done three times, there's quality control and picking to consider.
To be able to afford all this manual labor the raisin farm owners have to pay a lot of workers, which is not cost effective for the company. That's why the raisin industry in California is finding ways that will lower the labor needed.
Sunpreme, is a type of raisin plant breed that shows a lot of potential in making it easier growing and harvesting the treats.
"I happened to notice two plants that the fruit was completely dry and the raisins were approximately the size that we wanted. And we said, 'Wow, eureka!" David Ramming, Retired USDA plant breeder, said.
Ramming first had his encounter with Sunpreme in the mid 1990's. He was crossbreeding raisin varieties that dry on the vine.
The Sunpreme variety eliminates any harvesting and sun drying the grapes, which could be the answer to the labor problem raisin farmers are having.
This makes Sunpreme the most important finding up to date. It has the potential to make a big impact on the industry, because [of] its ability to naturally dry on the vine without cutting the canes," Ramming added.
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Geneticist, Craig Ledbetter, is continuing the research on Sunpreme at the USDA's Agricultural Sciences Center in Parlier, where the Sunpreme originated.
Like the almond industry, the raisin industry wants to be fully mechanized. The minimum wage in the U.S. is hiking up and the cost of keeping hundreds of hand laborers year after year maybe too much for the companies to handle.
