Migrant workers move in
Pecos housing shortage overflows into motel
Most of the roughly 100 workers picking cantaloupes for the Pecos Cantaloupe Shed have taken up residence in a Fort Stockton motel, the shed’s manager said.
“We just couldn’t find anything here in Pecos,” Clay Taylor said. “We had to put them somewhere.”
Taylor said there are enough workers to take care of the limited crop. But, it will still be a smaller crop than past years.
Due to a migrant housing shortage, the cantaloupe company had to reduce the acreage it farms from 1,200 acres to 350. The Pecos Housing Authority decided to sell many of the units it normally rents out during cantaloupe season.
Demand remains high for the melons, Taylor said. But the supply could be limited.
“They’re going to be pretty hard to find, especially in y’all’s area,” he said. “Your best bet is to come down here.”
A man in the produce department at H-E-B in Odessa, who declined to be identified, said his store had three bins full of Pecos cantaloupes.
“Not everybody knows they’re available,” he said.
Taylor expects the season to last until around Aug. 10.
