Census Bureau counting fewer immigrants

Growers are already discovering this year's harvest is smaller. They'll have to wait until next year to determine if there will be enough pickers.

Figures from various sources, including the Census Bureau, show that 30 to 50 percent fewer Mexicans came to the U.S. - legally or illegally - in 2008 compared with 2006, Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew Hispanic Center, non-partisan researcher told USA Today for a July 21 story.

However, there's no evidence that the 11.5 million Mexicans already here are going home, Passel said. Two reasons why: with American's worsening economy, there's not as much money to be made, and it's harder these days to get across the border.

But that leaves citrus growers like Ben Albritton wondering about the labor force.

"It's too early to tell," Albritton said. "We'll know after the first of the year."

The fruit has been poorer and less acidic due to dry, erratic weather, said Albritton, a Hardee County grower who chairs the Florida Citrus Association.

"Ninety, maybe 95 percent of it's always due to inconsistent rainfall," Albritton said. The trees bloomed late this season, and also, trees and their leaves needed cool weather for chlorophyll production, and Central Florida didn't get much of that this fall.

The good news there is that since quantities of juice may fall, prices may rise. Also, Albritton said, with Florida's tourism and construction industries challenged by the recessionary economy, the agricultural and citrus sectors remain strong.

Migrant camps

The number of migrant labor camps in Highlands County is up 45 percent in the past three years, however. In 2006, the local health department permitted 83; this year there are 120 permits.

Migrants stay in mobile homes and houses in both rural and urban locations.

However, not all those camps are active, Environmental Health Manager Tom Higginbotham said. "If they need to use it, they call us and say they need an inspection."