Employing Migrant Workers

Attacks on immigration make headlines nationwide, but here in Leelanau County our farmers enjoy a healthy, symbiotic relationship with their migrant laborers—without whom the cherries would not be picked this summer. Farmer Jim Bardenhagen stands in one of his orchards in front of a modular home he maintains for his workers. A well-tended vegetable garden in front of the home was planted by the farmworker family that lives there.

Photo by Taro Yamasaki