Robotic pickers may help orchards with worker shortage

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON – Harvesting Washington state's vast orchards each year requires thousands of farmworkers, many of whom work illegally in the United States. That could change dramatically; at least two companies are rushing to get robotic fruit-picking machines to market. The robotic pickers don't get tired and can work 24 hours a day. "Human pickers are getting scarce," said Gad Kober, a co-founder of Israel-based FFRobotics. "Young people do not want to work in farms, and elderly pickers are slowly retiring."