A bale of pine straw takes about 10 minutes to make, five if you’re paid by the unit and have mouths to feed. But even speedy baling doesn’t guarantee a livable paycheck.

When you build your own wooden hay baler, ... and almost the same design being used by a guy in East Texas for baling pine straw. ... 12-inch-long 5×1 pine board; ...

In part two, 'Baling pine straw for pennies,' crews disproportionately made of young, Mexican men bale pine straw by hand. They're not always fairly compensated. The stories near you ...