89.9 FM Live From The University Of New Mexico
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

In Southern New Mexico, Fewer Field Workers Needed For Red Chile Harvest

Photo courtesy of Philip Greenspn via www.phot.net

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kunm/local-kunm-870918.mp3

Southern New Mexico farmers are in the final stages of this year's chile harvest and unlike previous years, fewer field workers are needed to gather red pods for market. That's because in U.S. chile-growing regions, machine harvesters are steadily replacing workers in the red chile harvest.

KUNM's Kent Paterson reports from the Hatch Valley in the first of a series of stories on the rural New Mexico economy.

This story was made possible in part by a grant from the McCune Charitable Foundation