"I've had a passion for this industry and the crop," Bob Ferguson, an asparagus grower said, speaking from his asparagus field on Union Island southwest of Stockton.
Ferguson has 162 acres of asparagus ready to harvest. However, this year he is only harvesting 25 acres. Ferguson has found business much more difficult since NAFTA wiped out a 25 percent tariff on Mexican asparagus. Since then Ferguson has been struggling to compete with the "cheaper, lower quality" asparagus imported from Mexico.
That, coupled with tighter food safety laws in the U.S., higher labor costs, with increased minimum wage and tighter pesticide rules, makes the Delta asparagus more expensive to sell.
source: abc10.com