GREELEY (AP)

Farmers and dairymen nationwide are struggling to find enough workers, but some northern Colorado producers say they’re facing an additional labor challenge: The area’s booming gas and oil industry is taking away even more help.

In recent years, many in agriculture have said worker shortages are an increasing problem, and studies and reports have backed up such claims.

Fewer locals are willing to do the work, producers say, and there’s not enough access to migrant workers from other countries – a situation that has been a focal point of national immigration-reform talks.

Particularly hit hard have been vegetable growers and dairymen, whose operations are more labor-intensive than other areas of agriculture, such as grain production, where harvest is done with combines or other machinery.

Some producers in Weld County and surrounding areas have expressed the same frustrations in recent years, but say the problem here seems to be getting worse because they’re competing more and more for their workers – and losing the battle – with better-paying and rapidly growing gas and oil operations, as well as construction companies.

There are some, such as Weld County dairyman Terry Dye, who say they’ve rarely had a problem finding enough workers. In Dye’s case, he said he pays about 20 percent more than surrounding operations, which has helped, but hasn’t solved the problem.

“Since the first of this year, we have been struggling,” he said.

Recent labor statistics support claims that local workers are gravitating toward jobs in the oil patch.

In July, Weld County saw its unemployment rate drop to 7.5 percent, down from 9.1 percent a year earlier, with much of that job growth seen in the gas and oil industry, according to a recent state Department of Labor and Employment report – which doesn’t factor in farm-labor numbers.

According to the statistics, Weld County this year has gained 1,600 jobs, almost half in the mining, logging and construction industry.

Weld has no logging activity, so it’s safe to say most of that job growth occurred in the gas and oil industry.

Meanwhile, many employers in agriculture are struggling to find enough help.

Jordan Hungenberg with Hungenberg Produce, an operation that needs seasonal workers to hand-harvest their thousands of acres of carrots, cabbage and other vegetables, echoed Dye’s comments, saying they’ve historically been able to find enough workers, but are having a little trouble this year.

He said reliable workers who have been with them for quite a while are making the switch from seasonal to full-time work in construction or the oil fields.

“There’s no doubt the growth of oil and gas production around here is making it tougher for us,” said Chris Kraft, a Fort Morgan-area dairyman who sits on the board of directors for Dairy Farmers of America and Western Dairy Association, among other agriculture organizations.

Many in northern Colorado have benefited from riding the gas and oil gravy train in recent years.

For Weld County, drilling operations have added up to $1 billion in assessed valuation to the county during the last two years and lowered property taxes for all.

Much of the drilling in the region is taking place on farm and ranch land, which has provided a sharp income boost to some in agriculture.

For some producers, though, it’s caused headaches, such as the higher-paying jobs offered by gas and oil companies that are taking away ag workers, which are already tough to come, they say.

Dave Petrocco – who operates Petrocco Farms, and estimates he lost about $150,000 worth of vegetables in the fields in 2011 because he didn’t have enough workers to harvest the crops in time – said he’s continually having more trouble, competing with wages offered by construction companies and the gas and oil industry.

Kraft said he’s getting hit the hardest by the gas and oil industry in the loss of his medium-pay workers.

He said his more experienced employees who make about $20 per hour aren’t leaving.

But his workers who make $12-$14 per hour have little trouble finding gas and oil jobs that pay nearly double – and they often go that route.

Losing his workers in that pay range and at that skill level is particularly frustrating, Kraft said, “because that’s our future. Those are the guys we want to keep around, teach them everything … later put in charge and give the $20-per-hour jobs. But we’re losing a lot of those guys before they can move up the ladder. Then we’re starting over.”

Local farmers and dairymen aren’t expecting the issue to go away anytime soon.

Weld County is a “sweet spot” in the middle of the Niobrara shale.

The oil field that stretches from Colorado into Wyoming produced about 83,000 barrels of oil in 2008, but reached nearly 10 million barrels last year.

By 2020, some estimate the Niobrara’s production could jump to as much as 250,000 barrels per day.

Kraft, like many others in agriculture, said the new issue of competition with petroleum companies and the overall struggle to find workers highlights the need for immigration reform.

Producers who struggle to find employees locally can use the federal H-2A program to bring in migrant workers.

But many say it provides little relief.

Farmers and dairymen describe the H-2A program as too costly – requiring employers to pay for migrant workers’ housing, among other expenses – and “too cumbersome” with “too much red tape.”

Local farmers for the most part have stopped using it.

And for dairymen, like Kraft, the H-2A program only addresses seasonal work. His two dairies, where he employs about 75 workers, need people year-round.