But the time may have come for small North American family-run wineries to take stock of the situation: either ditch the tradition or look into mechanizing. In other words, four years from 2016 the gap between manual labor costs and mechanical labor costs is expected to double. Ballard told the group that for a grape grower to break even in 2016 using manual labor the operation would have to include at least 377 acres. More important, even though H-2A workers are paid a couple of dollars above the hourly minimum wage, it keeps labor costs down. Indeed, a certain winery in Charlottesville, Virginia has been known to seek H-2A workers.

Source: Forbes May 15, 2018 13:18 UTC