Ag labor employers’ group: Worker decline more proof reforms are needed

On April 11, the USDA released findings from the 2017 Census of Agriculture. According to USDA, the census revealed more than 2,411,033 people worked on US farms and ranches during 2017. This reflected a decline of 325,384 hired workers from the 2012 Census.

“The release of the Census data shines a bright light on the importance of quickly resolving the U. S. agricultural worker shortage,” said Michael Marsh, President and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE). “Without access to a ready, willing, able and reliable agricultural workforce in the U. S., crops don’t get planted or harvested timely. This increases American reliance on imported food.”

Today about half of the fresh fruit and a third of the vegetables consumed in the U. S. is imported. A shortage of agricultural workers is one of the impediments to U. S. farm and ranch families sustainably producing a larger share of fruits and vegetables for domestic consumption.

Citing an April 3, 2019, hearing before the Immigration and Citizenship subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee as a good first step toward remedying the worker shortfall, Marsh said, “The Congress will need to work quickly to pass legislation and move it off to the president’s desk for signature before the election cycle kicks into high gear. Politicking can quickly stall positive momentum.”

NCAE is the national trade association focusing exclusively on agricultural labor issues from the employer’s standpoint.