Mechanisation has come about in a number of ways, according to a report by Philip Martin of the University of California, Davis.

ECONOMIST: Agricultural robots

Philip Martin, a professor at UC Davis, says the hiring practices of farms can paradoxically create localized labor shortages and surpluses at the same time.

WSJ: Tight Market for Farmhands

Agricultural economist Philip Martin doesn't think so.

NPR: Guest-Worker Debate: Human or Mechanical Labor?

"Nobody knows the future, but if the past is any guide, the farmworkers who get legalized, many of them will leave agriculture pretty quickly, " said Philip Martin, professor of agricultural and resource economics at University of California, Davis.

NPR: In Prior Overhaul, Legalized Farmworkers Prospered

Philip L. Martin of the University of California, Davis, said overall U.S. production of fruits and vegetables has remained stable in recent years.

WSJ: So Many Apples in Washington State This Year, So Few Pickers

Meanwhile Linfield are also understood to be in talks with former Northern Ireland midfielder Philip Mulryne and ex-Cliftonville and Lisburn Distillery frontman John Martin while Northern Ireland Under-21 striker Paul Carvill is also a target.

BBC: Jeffrey silence on Downey future