Congressional hearing explores labor crisis
Congressional hearing explores labor crisis
WASHINGTON -- Growers expressed frustration about the worsening labor crisis at an Oct. 4 hearing as a congressional committee looked at the labor needs of American agriculture.
"While some issues change, depending on the region, in every part of the country where I've traveled, the topic of labor always comes up, and it is usually followed by the word "crisis,'" said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN). "This is a major problem for producers, and sooner or later, we must find a way to address it."
The hearing, which was requested by Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), came after the House wrapped up action on the 2007 farm bill this summer without adding the hot-button issue of farm labor policies to the legislation.
The House Agriculture Committee held the hearing to reinforce the magnitude of the problem, and to look at whether the temporary guest worker program was working for agriculture.
"It is possible to simultaneously streamline the guest worker program, reduce illegal immigration and protect our borders," ranking member Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said at the Oct. 4 hearing.
"Increased border security, workplace raids and the fear of raids are making the labor shortages in south Texas worse every day," J. Allen Carnes, president of Winter Garden Produce and chairman of the Texas Produce Association, added at the hearing.
Because of shortages, Mr. Carnes said that his business is behind in harvesting onions by two weeks, and he has had to abandon 35 acres of cabbage because those workers switched to onion-clipping crews. "That field, along with the onion harvest being two weeks behind schedule, cost our company over a quarter of a million dollars in 2006."
Without legislative relief, Mr. Carnes predicted that Texas companies would continue relocating to Mexico. "A guest worker program, including a legal path for the workers that are already here, coupled with workplace screening, will provide an orderly, legal process for making sure employees and needed workers are matched," he said.
Only 150 out of more than 110,000 agriculture jobs in Texas are filled by H-2A workers.
Rick Roth, president of Roth Farms Inc., has used the H-2A program for decades and agreed it must be reformed to make it workable. Incorporating the earned adjustment status provisions would allow him time to build the housing required by users of the program, he said.
"But H-2A alone is clearly not enough," said Mr. Roth.
The "nearly dysfunctional H-2A" program -- the only legal guest worker program for agricultural workers -- fills 2 percent of these jobs, and an illegal guest worker program fills up to three-quarters of the other jobs, according to James Holt, an agricultural labor economist with Pennsylvania State University.
Mr. Holt said that a supply of H-2A workers was delayed during the 2007 season, and that the Bush administration should begin making administrative reforms to the program as soon as possible.
In August, President Bush directed the Department of Labor to look at reforming the H-2A Agricultural Seasonal Worker Program. "We're still in the processing of reviewing ways to improve it," said a spokesperson for the department.
In the meantime, the agriculture workforce is tightening. Farmers normally require the most labor for their operations during the third quarter of each year, said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. But a comparison of the third quarter of 2005 to the third quarter one year later indicates that there were 60,000 fewer farmworkers during this critical time period in 2006.
Some apricot growers have decided not to replant their orchards because they fear the labor will not appear, he told Congress. One blueberry grower in Mississippi has gotten out of the fresh fruit business, and a cooperative has decided to plant 30 percent fewer acres of pickling cucumbers because of labor shortages, he said.
"Without a stable, legal supply of labor to replace currently unauthorized workers, the fresh fruit and vegetable sector could see U.S. production decline by up to $9 billion a year," Mr. Stallman said. "Similarly, an abrupt loss of our labor supply could cause net farm income to drop by up to $5 billion annually."
The farm bureau said that the Department of Homeland Security's so-called no-match rule will worsen the labor crisis, and that Congress should support expediting the visa process for H-2A workers and pass agricultural workforce reform legislation.
Mason Smoak, a citrus producer and cattle rancher from Lake Placid, FL, said that mechanical harvesting may spell hope to growers who will find it easier to manage a few machines than a large workforce. He said growers are looking to government researchers for help in studying these machines and abscission chemicals (which loosen the fruit) to make the process easier.
"However, these machines are multi-million dollar pieces of equipment that are not financially feasible for medium and small growers to use at this time," he said, adding that growers must pull from legal U.S. workers or navigate the costly H-2A guest worker program.
"While some issues change, depending on the region, in every part of the country where I've traveled, the topic of labor always comes up, and it is usually followed by the word "crisis,'" said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN). "This is a major problem for producers, and sooner or later, we must find a way to address it."
The hearing, which was requested by Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), came after the House wrapped up action on the 2007 farm bill this summer without adding the hot-button issue of farm labor policies to the legislation.
The House Agriculture Committee held the hearing to reinforce the magnitude of the problem, and to look at whether the temporary guest worker program was working for agriculture.
"It is possible to simultaneously streamline the guest worker program, reduce illegal immigration and protect our borders," ranking member Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) said at the Oct. 4 hearing.
"Increased border security, workplace raids and the fear of raids are making the labor shortages in south Texas worse every day," J. Allen Carnes, president of Winter Garden Produce and chairman of the Texas Produce Association, added at the hearing.
Because of shortages, Mr. Carnes said that his business is behind in harvesting onions by two weeks, and he has had to abandon 35 acres of cabbage because those workers switched to onion-clipping crews. "That field, along with the onion harvest being two weeks behind schedule, cost our company over a quarter of a million dollars in 2006."
Without legislative relief, Mr. Carnes predicted that Texas companies would continue relocating to Mexico. "A guest worker program, including a legal path for the workers that are already here, coupled with workplace screening, will provide an orderly, legal process for making sure employees and needed workers are matched," he said.
Only 150 out of more than 110,000 agriculture jobs in Texas are filled by H-2A workers.
Rick Roth, president of Roth Farms Inc., has used the H-2A program for decades and agreed it must be reformed to make it workable. Incorporating the earned adjustment status provisions would allow him time to build the housing required by users of the program, he said.
"But H-2A alone is clearly not enough," said Mr. Roth.
The "nearly dysfunctional H-2A" program -- the only legal guest worker program for agricultural workers -- fills 2 percent of these jobs, and an illegal guest worker program fills up to three-quarters of the other jobs, according to James Holt, an agricultural labor economist with Pennsylvania State University.
Mr. Holt said that a supply of H-2A workers was delayed during the 2007 season, and that the Bush administration should begin making administrative reforms to the program as soon as possible.
In August, President Bush directed the Department of Labor to look at reforming the H-2A Agricultural Seasonal Worker Program. "We're still in the processing of reviewing ways to improve it," said a spokesperson for the department.
In the meantime, the agriculture workforce is tightening. Farmers normally require the most labor for their operations during the third quarter of each year, said Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. But a comparison of the third quarter of 2005 to the third quarter one year later indicates that there were 60,000 fewer farmworkers during this critical time period in 2006.
Some apricot growers have decided not to replant their orchards because they fear the labor will not appear, he told Congress. One blueberry grower in Mississippi has gotten out of the fresh fruit business, and a cooperative has decided to plant 30 percent fewer acres of pickling cucumbers because of labor shortages, he said.
"Without a stable, legal supply of labor to replace currently unauthorized workers, the fresh fruit and vegetable sector could see U.S. production decline by up to $9 billion a year," Mr. Stallman said. "Similarly, an abrupt loss of our labor supply could cause net farm income to drop by up to $5 billion annually."
The farm bureau said that the Department of Homeland Security's so-called no-match rule will worsen the labor crisis, and that Congress should support expediting the visa process for H-2A workers and pass agricultural workforce reform legislation.
Mason Smoak, a citrus producer and cattle rancher from Lake Placid, FL, said that mechanical harvesting may spell hope to growers who will find it easier to manage a few machines than a large workforce. He said growers are looking to government researchers for help in studying these machines and abscission chemicals (which loosen the fruit) to make the process easier.
"However, these machines are multi-million dollar pieces of equipment that are not financially feasible for medium and small growers to use at this time," he said, adding that growers must pull from legal U.S. workers or navigate the costly H-2A guest worker program.
