Oregon Public Broadcasting

The swine flu outbreak has forced the closure of U.S. consulate offices in Mexico. That’s delaying interviews and paperwork for Mexicans applying for temporary work visas.

Many farmers in the Northwest hire workers with temporary visas to help harvest crops. The consulate offices aren’t scheduled to open until Thursday.

Mike Gempler with the Washington Growers League says he expects delays in getting workers to Northwest orchards and fields. He’s just not sure how much of a worker shortage farmers will face.

Mike Gempler: “An employer who was counting on having several hundred people show up with temporary visas in time for cherry harvest, and they didn’t make it in time, yes then it could be a disaster.”

Gempler says about 4000 workers come to Washington State on temporary visas each year. They work mostly on thinning  the apple crop and harvesting cherries and other tree fruit.