Taylor Farms’ Chris Rotticci and Christina Barnard Discuss Second Season of Labor of Love

YUMA, AZ – Taylor Farms is celebrating its second season teaming up with Yuma, Arizona-based Labor of Love to show appreciation for workers. The company gave thanks to two automated harvesting crews for their service to the agriculture industry last week.

“At Taylor Farms we don’t have employees, we have family members,” said Christina Barnard, Director of Marketing at Taylor Farms. “We pride ourselves on taking care of one another. With family culture being our foundation, it is essential that we show appreciation and support to team members across the company.”

The company said that its automated celery harvester and automated cabbage harvester are two of the most revolutionary machines in the industry, according to a press release, eliminating hand harvesting of the past.

Described as mobile factories, the harvesters both provide ergonomically correct environments while matching the productivity of a hand crew with 50% less labor.

“We understand that we’re heavily dependent on people working in the field,” said Chris Rotticci, Director of Automated Harvesting, in a recent video. “When we’re talking about sustainability of labor going forward in the future, we’re looking at how we can change our approach to the harvesting practices. Where we start is definitely with the people.”

See the company as it surprised almost 30 team members with breakfast, coffee, hand-written thank you notes from Taylor Farms, and $25 Walmart gift cards in the video below. Two raffle prizes were randomly given out to each crew in addition to the celebration.

“We are grateful for the support of Taylor Farms and their leadership team and pleased to have the opportunity to surprise their farm crews,” said Steve Alameda, President of Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association. “We look forward to continuing to work with them as we shine a light on the industry’s most important asset–the people.”

Launched by the Yuma Fresh Vegetable Association (YFVA), Labor of Love currently reaches millions of people in surrounding communities as it looks to raise awareness about the important contributions that farming employees bring to our industry.

-By Melissa De Leon