PAUL KITAGAKI JR./pkitagaki@sacbee.com

A tractor pulls a bin being fed by an olive-harvesting machine at Cortopassi Farms in Lodi. Over the past decade, new olive growers and olive oil producers have been planting olives in super high-density grids and switching from hand labor to mechanized labor. Farmers say a shortage of laborers is worsening.

close window