As he surveyed a field of three-week-old sweet corn, Colorado farmer Bob Sakata told how a shortage of hands to pack the vegetable forced him to downsize his operations by 40 percent over the past decade.
“We were farming close to 4,000 acres and we cut it back to 2,400,” said Sakata, 87, who has farmed in the state for 67 years. “It has a big economic impact on the community. We used to hire 400 people and last year it was 191.”
