apples are picked and put into 20 bushel bins .. they hold around 800 lbs .. not 2 Ton .... they use a bag that holds just over a bushel and they get paid $10-$25 a bin ... on a good day they can pick up to 30 bins ... there's hardly any apple trees that need ladders anymore .. most are grown on trellis' and stay under six feet tall
there's three different catagories of pay for apple pickers .. the fresh fruit gets paid more .. that's the ones that go to grocery stores and have to be free from any and all defects .. they have to take the time to look at the apple before they pick it .. the process type is mid pay range and they need can be done a little quicker but still need to be free from decay and bruises .. the lesser paid is juice apples that are sold to make apple juice , apple sauce and cider .. they can even come off the ground and be half eaten by rodents .. so keep that in mind when you're eating applesauce and drinking cider
you can't shake an apple tree .. the trunks are too brittle .. cherries are shaken off when they're harvested
pickers are out in the weather from sun up till sun down and unless it's pouring with lightening they keep going and going .. they essentailly cover the same orchard 3 times ... in stages .. it's hard labor and it's very rare to see an American in any orchard unless they're the owner ... migrants are even shipped in from Jamaica to fill the demand for workers that are needed
