July 10, 2009 Employees are plentiful on Mass. farms this year Play video

(NECN: Katie Daly) - There's a growing job market in the Worcester area. Literally. Local farms say they have an abundance of employees this year.

While the crops at Charlton Orchards Farm and winery are not as plentiful this year due to the rainy weather, there is one thing they aren’t lacking on the farm. Employees.

"For the first time we have had an abundance and we’ve had to turn some away.”

Nathan Benjamin is the general manager of the farm. Each year he says he spends a thousand dollars trying to recruit employees to work on his farm. This season he hasn't spent a dime.

“I think people romance about what it is like to work on a farm and they aren’t going to quit their job but when they lose their job they are going to live our their little dream.”

Benjamin thinks the lagging economy has a lot to do with his farm having a full staff. He says his employees consists of college students looking to make some extra money and workers who have recently been laid off.

And a report in USA Today backs that up. According to the newspaper across the country more people are looking to work on farms after being laid off until they find a new job.