Cherry Bay Orchards in Suttons Bay received a $100,000 grant to provide better housing for guest workers during harvest season.
During peak cherry season, the farm can employ up to 91 people. About 60 of those are guest workers through the H-2A Temporary Agriculture Program.
The program requires employers to provide housing for guest workers. Cherry Bay Orchard does that with duplexes and mobile homes.
Orchard manager Emma Grant said money from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development will be used to phase out some of those mobile homes.
“So the idea is to start replacing the mobile homes with permanent, in-the-ground structures, kind of like the duplex units that we have," Grant said.
Guest workers typically arrive in March and stay through October’s apple harvest season.
Cherry Bay Orchard has 18 months to build the new units. They will be located near the farm.
Grant expects work to start in the fall.
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