Under H-2A visas, foreign workers harvest the Champlain Valley’s apples
A cold wind rustled through rows of apple trees on an October afternoon at Rulfs Orchard in the Adirondack Park town of Peru.
As locals flocked to the farm store to stock up on pumpkins, corn and other fall harvest staples, Roy Williamson rode around the orchards on a mud-covered John Deere ATV. Williamson — affectionately called “Eddie” by his coworkers — has been a fixture at the Rulfs since 1988.
“My role here?” Williamson said with a grin. “Whenever they ask, ‘Eddie, can you do that?’ I say, ‘No problem.’”…