Apr 17, 2024

Industry applauds bipartisan ag labor group’s report

Industry leaders and associations applauded the House Committee on Agriculture’s bipartisan agriculture labor working group’s final report.

The report is the product of a months-long effort to identify workforce challenges faced by the agriculture industry and propose potential legislative solutions to them.

Ag industry groups supporting the effort include the American Farm Bureau Federation, AmericanHort, the International Fresh Produce Association, the National Council of Agricultural Employers, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and the National Farmers Union, according to a news release from the House Committee on Agriculture.

“AFBF thanks the Agriculture Labor Working Group for making improvements to the H-2A program a priority when they could have looked the other way. That’s what leadership is all about. We hope this work is followed by action. America’s farmers and ranchers are counting on Congress to address this issue before more farms go under,” said Zippy Duvall, president, American Farm Bureau Federation, said in the release.

In the release, Ken Fisher, president and CEO, AmericanHort commended the House Agriculture Committee for “establishing the Agricultural Labor Working Group and applauds the group’s efforts to improve the availability of labor through programs like H-2A, which has been a critical program for the agriculture and horticulture industries.”

Fisher also noted that AmericanHort encourages continued advocacy efforts to improve both H-2A and H-2B programs, “particularly in reforming the Adverse Effect Wage Rate policies and granting year-round industries access to the H-2A program.”

“The bipartisan Agricultural Labor Working Group has identified a bipartisan road map to get the relief, particularly wage relief, that the fresh produce and floral industry needs to survive. Congress cannot continue to rely on the undeniable tenacity of the American farmer to figure out a way to survive under the current broken system and must act now to prevent more farms from going out of business,” said Cathy Burns, CEO, International Fresh Produce Association.