Housing for farmworkers a burden for farmers

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Regarding the cost of housing burden on farmers, I recall a few years back, Gov. Gary Locke imposed first-world housing requirements for migrant labor housing (“Ease path to hire farmworkers for state agriculture,” The Herald, May 4).

While it was a noble gesture, it made housing migrants unaffordable for some farmers.

I’m not suggesting that the laborers should live in squalor, but I’d hazard a guess that their own situations back home are probably not up to U.S. standards.

I am suggesting that the housing requirements might be reassessed to alleviate the shortage situation.

Once again it’s another case of the perfect being the enemy of the good.

Mark D Ryan

Kingston