Insect-Killing Worms May Help New York

The spread of the alfalfa snout beetle has been limited to northern New York and parts of the Canadian province of Ontario.

"It's been New York's special little problem," said Cornell entomologist Elson Shields, "even though if they were to spread, it could become a huge problem in the Midwest, or any alfalfa growing state."

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CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. (AP) Saying the nation's immigration system is broken, Pennsylvania's largest grower of fresh-to-market tomatoes announced he will no longer produce the crop because he can't find enough workers to harvest it.

Keith Eckel, 61, a fourth-generation farmer and the owner of Fred W. Eckel Sons Farms Inc., said this week he saw a dramatic decline last summer in the number of migrant workers who showed up to pick tomatoes at his 2,000-acre farm in northeastern Pennsylvania.

He said Congress' failure to approve comprehensive immigration reform had hindered his ability to hire enough workers to get his crop to the market. Most of Eckel's workers came from Mexico.

"There are a number of workers hesitant to travel, legal or illegal, because of the scrutiny they are now under," said Eckel, whose tomatoes have been shipped to supermarkets and restaurants throughout the eastern United States. "So there are less workers crossing state lines."