Sakuma Bros. Farm Announces Opening of the Blueberry and Blackberry Seasons

BURLINGTON, Wash. - July 8, 2015 - PRLog -- Sakuma Bros. Farm announced today that harvesting has begun for blueberries and blackberries. The farm’s new pay system, which was developed and put into use this year, is delivering excellent wages for the harvest picking team.

For blackberries, the average rate has been $22.90 per hour. Yesterday alone the average daily rate was $24.93, with 94% of the team earning more than $20.00 per hour; 25% of the team earned more than $30.00 per hour. For blueberries, the average daily rate was $14.67 per hour; 25% of the team earned more than $20.00 per hour.

“We are so proud of our picking team and we have great respect for their skills,” said Danny Weeden, CEO of Sakuma Bros. Farm. “With the great weather we’ve had, the crops have been good and the harvest is going extremely well.”

Sakuma’s pay system is one of the most progressive in the country and exceeds state and federal law by ensuring that our harvest workers are paid for all productive and nonproductive time.  Under the pay system, harvest workers are paid a guaranteed hourly rate of $10/hour for all hours worked, plus a production bonus based on the number of pounds picked, equaling up to $40.00. For blackberries, the highest rate has been more than $34.00 per hour for past 3 days. The highest daily rate has been $36.25 per hour. For blueberries, the highest rate has been over $33.00 per hour for the past 5 days and the highest daily average rate has been $39.00 per hour.

Sakuma Bros. Farms has been providing our harvest pickers with a daily report to view and confirm: (1) the total number of pounds he or she picked during the workday; (2) the number of hours he or she worked during the workday; and (3) the average number of pounds of fruit picked per hour.  There are two, paid 10-minute breaks and a lunch break.

Sakuma Bros. is also one of the few farms in the region to provide free company housing for up to 350 plus harvest pickers.  This year, in an effort to assist pickers who do not reside in our company-provided housing, we have been providing a weekly housing stipend to assist with living expenses.