AgJOBS introduced in new Congress as growers tell of labor shortages
AgJOBS introduced in new Congress as growers tell of labor shortages
WASHINGTON -- Two growers told stories of labor shortages in the fields and orchards at a Jan. 10 press conference that marked the beginning of the agricultural worker debate in the new Democrat-controlled Congress.
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Larry Craig (R-ID) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) reintroduced the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits & Security Act Jan. 10. Reps. Chris Cannon (R-UT), Howard Berman (D-CA) and George Radanovich (R-CA) introduced the House companion bill the same day.
While it is likely to pass the Senate again this year, advocates hope the bill will pass the newly Democrat-controlled House, which opposed guest worker reform measures last year, and reach the White House.
AgJOBS advocates said that they will wait for the comprehensive immigration control debate to start, but if that effort hits a snag by March, bill sponsors plan to push it through on a separate track, said Sharon Hughes of the National Council of Agricultural Employers.
Pear farmer Toni Scully of Lake County, CA, said that he started with less than half the pickers needed to harvest high-quality Bartlett pears and suffered the consequences.
"Each year farmers gamble with the weather, the markets, and government regulations. Now a huge labor shortage forced us to decide which orchards to abandon," he said. "Between the pears left hanging on the trees and the fruit that had to be dumped because it was overripe, we lost almost 25 percent of our Lake County crop."
"I still feel the ache in my heart as I watched much of our county's crop, over 26 million pounds of beautiful fruit, go to waste," he said, adding that photos of the abandoned pears appeared on the front page of The New York Times last September.
Third-generation Idaho fruit grower and U.S. Apple Association Chairman Kelly Henggeler said that the $2 billion apple industry is in jeopardy. If Congress does not pass real reform, the U.S. apple industry could be outsourced to China or elsewhere, she warned.
"In Idaho, like most of the Pacific Northwest, the 2006 growing season brought a sizable apple crop, but with the harvest it also brought increased labor costs and in many cases, labor shortages," said Ms. Henggeler of Henggeler Packing Co.
"Some apple growers were forced to leave otherwise good apples on the trees because they didn't have enough labor to pick them. Others were able to get their crop picked, but none of us might be as lucky next year," she said. Apple growers in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia are suffering the same losses. Paying workers amounts to about half the costs of producing apples, and without migrant workers companies cannot prune, thin and pick crops.
Stepped up border patrols are making it difficult to maintain seasonal workers and growers say they cannot attract enough U.S. workers to work the fields. AgJOBS would set up a pilot program to restructure the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program and help up to 1.5 million farmworkers gain legal status.
"The current H-2A program has not been reformed in more than 50 years and is ineffective in many regions of the United States," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association. "The comprehensive reforms of the AgJOBS legislation meet the needs of both agriculture and labor communities, and thus have garnered strong backing from both groups."
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Larry Craig (R-ID) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) reintroduced the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits & Security Act Jan. 10. Reps. Chris Cannon (R-UT), Howard Berman (D-CA) and George Radanovich (R-CA) introduced the House companion bill the same day.
While it is likely to pass the Senate again this year, advocates hope the bill will pass the newly Democrat-controlled House, which opposed guest worker reform measures last year, and reach the White House.
AgJOBS advocates said that they will wait for the comprehensive immigration control debate to start, but if that effort hits a snag by March, bill sponsors plan to push it through on a separate track, said Sharon Hughes of the National Council of Agricultural Employers.
Pear farmer Toni Scully of Lake County, CA, said that he started with less than half the pickers needed to harvest high-quality Bartlett pears and suffered the consequences.
"Each year farmers gamble with the weather, the markets, and government regulations. Now a huge labor shortage forced us to decide which orchards to abandon," he said. "Between the pears left hanging on the trees and the fruit that had to be dumped because it was overripe, we lost almost 25 percent of our Lake County crop."
"I still feel the ache in my heart as I watched much of our county's crop, over 26 million pounds of beautiful fruit, go to waste," he said, adding that photos of the abandoned pears appeared on the front page of The New York Times last September.
Third-generation Idaho fruit grower and U.S. Apple Association Chairman Kelly Henggeler said that the $2 billion apple industry is in jeopardy. If Congress does not pass real reform, the U.S. apple industry could be outsourced to China or elsewhere, she warned.
"In Idaho, like most of the Pacific Northwest, the 2006 growing season brought a sizable apple crop, but with the harvest it also brought increased labor costs and in many cases, labor shortages," said Ms. Henggeler of Henggeler Packing Co.
"Some apple growers were forced to leave otherwise good apples on the trees because they didn't have enough labor to pick them. Others were able to get their crop picked, but none of us might be as lucky next year," she said. Apple growers in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia are suffering the same losses. Paying workers amounts to about half the costs of producing apples, and without migrant workers companies cannot prune, thin and pick crops.
Stepped up border patrols are making it difficult to maintain seasonal workers and growers say they cannot attract enough U.S. workers to work the fields. AgJOBS would set up a pilot program to restructure the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program and help up to 1.5 million farmworkers gain legal status.
"The current H-2A program has not been reformed in more than 50 years and is ineffective in many regions of the United States," said Robert Guenther, senior vice president of public policy for the United Fresh Produce Association. "The comprehensive reforms of the AgJOBS legislation meet the needs of both agriculture and labor communities, and thus have garnered strong backing from both groups."
