This item from Stanislaus County has some fascinating frontline farm information about the changing job market in agriculture because of machinery. Almond trees are easy to manage, compared with pickier crops like peaches, so the nuts are growing in popularity among farmers.

Part of almond attractiveness is the application of mechanical technology. Farm robots and simpler machines have been improving rapidly in recent years, from hand-like pickers to milk robots to take care of the cows.

Actually, the mechanical almond picker shown in the video below doesn’t look that high-tech compared with some of the new gizmos.

The important point of the increased mechanization is the reduction of jobs, particularly for illegal aliens who account for many of the picker workforce. The good news is the reduced need for foreign workers; the bad news is Washington’s disregard for facts deemed inconvenient. Clearly advances in farm robotics lessen the need for foreign workers in the fields, just as in every other area of employment in America.