Demand is growing for hops from the Yakima Valley, but farmers say there aren’t enough workers to keep up. It’s a big industry for Washington, which grows more than three-quarters of the nation’s hops.
Dressed in yellow rain gear, Edgar Silva swings his machete to chop the base of a hop vine missed by the crew in the blue-and-yellow truck driving in front of him.
“It’s a very challenging job,” says Silva, 20, who gathers and tosses the fallen hops into the back of the truck as it drives through the junglelike rows of hop vines that grow 18 feet tall in the Yakima Valley…. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT THE SEATTLE TIMES
Dressed in yellow rain gear, Edgar Silva swings his machete to chop the base of a hop vine missed by the crew in the blue-and-yellow truck driving in front of him.
“It’s a very challenging job,” says Silva, 20, who gathers and tosses the fallen hops into the back of the truck as it drives through the junglelike rows of hop vines that grow 18 feet tall in the Yakima Valley…. CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT THE SEATTLE TIMES
