Press Releases

Washington, D.C.—”The House has announced plans to move forward with H.R. 2, the “Secure the Border Act” which includes mandatory electronic verification for all new hires, re-hires of seasonal workers, and if a Social Security Number is used with multiple employers. Farmers share the goal of a verified workforce, but agricultural labor reforms also must be enacted prior to any mandatory electronic verification system to avoid severe consequences for our nation’s food supply.

“The AWC cannot support such a measure without essential reforms being enacted, including stability for the current workforce, which as drafted this mandatory electronic verification system would decimate, as well as significant improvements to the H-2A guestworker program to secure program access for year-round producers and address the outdated wage formula. Reform has been consistently urged by farmers for decades. Without these vital solutions, this provision will harm many labor-dependent family farms across the U.S. and the consumers who rely upon them.

“We look forward to working with Congress on workable legislation that would provide solutions to the agricultural labor crisis while also achieving a verified workforce.”

About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. AWC serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce. For more information, please visit www.agworkforcecoalition.org.

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Washington, D.C. (March 22, 2021)—The steering committee of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) today called on the United States Senate to develop and pass legislation addressing the labor crisis faced by agriculture. The call came in a letter which was signed by the American Farm Bureau Federation, AmericanHort, Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, National Council of Agricultural Employers, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, National Farmers Union, National Milk Producers Federation, National Pork Producers Council, National Potato Council, United Fresh Produce Association, USAFarmers, U.S. Apple Association, and Western Growers.

“One of the greatest challenges for U.S. agriculture is the labor shortage that impacts farmers today and jeopardizes their future success. We must address this workforce crisis threatening farms across the United States so our producers can continue to feed, clothe, and fuel our nation. Doing so requires providing stability for our existing workers and key changes to the H-2A program,” the groups state. “We implore the Senate to put forward its ideas and solutions in a bipartisan manner to address our agricultural workforce challenges.”

The letter notes both the uncertainty that current farmworkers across the country face and the struggle for agricultural employers in filling open jobs. The groups also highlight the longstanding problems and limits of the current H-2A guest worker visa program for agriculture, including the inability to fill year-round farm jobs through the program. Another problem with the H-2A program, the letter states, is the use of a flawed survey to set wages, making them prone to outsized annual increases and leaving farmers without the predictability needed to remain economically competitive.

“Many farmers do not see a future in labor-intensive agriculture as the margins between profitability and loss grow thin due to the federal government’s outdated temporary guest worker program and broken immigration system,” the letter concludes. “As representatives of agricultural organizations throughout the United States, we stand ready to help you develop and pass legislation to fully address the needs of American farmers by stabilizing the current workforce, addressing enormous costs to use the H-2A program, and enabling year-round producers to access the H-2A program.”

A copy of the letter is available here.

About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. AWC serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce. For more information, please visit www.agworkforcecoalition.org.

Contact: Justin Darisse, 202-879-0816, jdarisse@ncfc.org

Washington, D.C. (March 18, 2020)—The steering committee of the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) today called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to recognize all H-2A as well as any other non-immigrant visa petition involving an agricultural worker visa consular processing functions as essential and direct U.S. Consulates to treat all agricultural worker appointments as emergency visa services.

The move came after Monday’s announcement by the Department of State’s decision to suspend regular visa processing at the embassy in Mexico City and all consulates in Mexico in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While USDA did clarify the State Department will be prioritizing workers eligible for the in-person interview waiver, the agency’s own data show that this process will only cover a portion of the workers needed to help produce this country’s food.

“We agree that governments and the private sector must take all necessary precautions to reduce further transmission of the virus in our communities, however those steps must be proportional and reasonable,” the groups write. “The Food and Agriculture Sector remains critical at this trying time and must be able to continue to provide sustenance.”

Action is especially critical at this time, as planting for many crops begins in a month. Many producers have applications pending or will soon file them and the next few months are typically the busiest time of year for visa interviews at embassies and consulates.

“The American people need a stable food supply to maintain healthy diets and strong immune systems, especially now during this national health crisis,” the letter concludes. “The failure to take necessary action to protect our food supply will result in bare shelves in grocery store produce aisles, not from panic buying, but as the result of the federal government directly causing a shortage of critical labor. We urge you and the President to not let that happen.”

A copy of the full letter can be found at:
http://www.agworkforcecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/d4_LettertoSecretaryPompeoH2AVisaProcessing.pdf

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About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. AWC serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce. For more information, please visit www.agworkforcecoalition.org.

Contact: Justin Darisse, 202-879-0816

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2020 – Following on the heels of a government-mandated increase in farmers’ labor costs, the Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC), a diverse group of organizations representing the needs of agricultural employers across the country, today urged the U.S. Senate to take up legislation to solve the agricultural labor crisis by calling attention to the dire labor situation facing our nation’s agricultural producers.

The Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) is the required wage rate for farmers who use the H-2A program and the Department of Labor today mandated an increase that will average 6% across the nation. The AWC told the Senate that the increase will make it difficult for some farms to continue operating, coming after a year of natural disasters, trade disruptions, low commodity prices and declining farm income.

In its letter, the AWC called on the Senate to take action to address critical agricultural labor issues. The coalition urges the Senate to consider the impacts of the AEWR on U.S. farmers and is asking for an alternative that will ensure a level playing field for farmers and ranchers making them more competitive with foreign producers.

Farmers who use the H-2A program to procure legal workers from other countries must comply with a complicated and expensive application process to assure that domestic workers are not displaced, though few U.S. workers are willing to take jobs on farms. Farmers are also required to provide free certified housing and transportation to and from guest workers’ place of residence. The AEWR implemented today will immediately increase farmers’ labor costs by an average of 6% while revenues for agricultural goods continue to diminish due to an influx of cheaply produced imports flooding American markets.

Over the last five years the AEWR has increased nationwide by 17% on average while revenues for fruits and nuts have increased only 3% and vegetables and melons have seen no revenue increases. While American farmers are required to pay their H-2A employees more and more each year, the U.S. continues to import more and more produce from Mexico and Central and South America, where workers are paid a fraction of U.S. wage rates.

The Agriculture Workforce Coalition is asking the Senate for a legislative solution that ensures the competitiveness of America’s farmers and ranchers, stabilizes the current U.S. agricultural workforce and provides guest worker program access to year-round agriculture sectors such as dairy, livestock and mushrooms.

The full text of the AWC letter is available here.

About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. AWC serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce. For more information, please visit www.agworkforcecoalition.org.

Washington, D.C. (October 26, 2017)–“Yesterday’s action by the House Judiciary Committee marks a necessary step forward in addressing the labor crisis faced by agriculture across the country and across commodities. We commend Chairman Goodlatte for his leadership on this issue and for shepherding this legislation through his committee.

“Several amendments adopted during the markup are concerning. The legislative answer for agriculture that must accompany mandatory E-verify requires workable solutions for both our current and future workforce needs. The AWC continues to analyze these changes and will work with Chairman Goodlatte, congressional leadership, and Members on both sides of the aisle to ensure that any legislation reaching the House floor provides a reasonable, realistic solution to the labor challenges faced by farmers, ranchers, growers and their workers, so they can continue to feed and clothe American consumers and the world with food and fiber produced in the U.S.”

About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The AWC brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. The coalition serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce now and in the future.

Washington, D.C. (October 2, 2017)—The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) supports Chairman Goodlatte’s AG Act as part of our ongoing effort to work with him in achieving a solution that ensures a secure, legal workforce in agriculture today and in the future. We call on all members of the Judiciary Committee to support and vote the AG Act out of Committee. We appreciate the Chairman’s invitation to continue the dialogue and look forward to working together beyond the committee process to further address agriculture’s labor crisis.

We commend Chairman Goodlatte for the improvements made thus far to secure a balance between the need for a legal workforce in agriculture today and in the future, with the necessity of dealing with illegal immigration. As the process unfolds, we look forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats on this legislation, which will lead to enactment of a solution that ensures agriculture producers have access to a legal and stable workforce.

About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The AWC brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. The coalition serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce now and in the future.

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Test Post

Washington, D.C. (March 31, 2017)—The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) this week emphasized the importance of immigration reform for America’s farmers and ranchers in a letter sent to President Donald Trump. 70 groups representing a variety of crops grown in every region in the country joined in sending the letter that calls for reforms to ensure that American agriculture has a legal, stable supply of workers—in both the long- and short-term—for all types of producers.

“[T]he economic health of food and fiber producers, and the rural communities in which they live, is threatened by the lack of a reliable, stable and legal workforce. Our farmers face growing shortages of legally authorized and experienced workers each year,” the groups state. “This shortage of labor negatively impacts our economic competitiveness, local economies and jobs. Reforms are necessary to address the agricultural labor shortage.”

The AWC pointed out that the labor shortage threatens jobs far beyond the farm. Indeed, each farmworker engaged in labor-intensive crop or livestock production supports two to three other jobs off farm, including those with transportation providers, input suppliers, processors and retailers.

“Many of those American jobs would be lost if access to agriculture’s current workforce is jeopardized without providing a mechanism for future legal workers,” the groups say.

The letter continues, “we support strengthening our border, and we believe to do so we must also relieve pressure on the border by providing a lawful path for foreign workers to enter the U.S. on a nonimmigrant basis.”
The groups point out the only current guest worker program available, the H-2A visa program, is not only cumbersome and dysfunctional but only allows for temporary or seasonal workers. Therefore, it cannot be used by farmers—such as those in dairy, livestock and mushrooms, among others—who have year-round need for workers.

“We can and must do better for our economy and country by modernizing our immigration system to include work eligibility for our existing workforce and farmer-friendly programs to provide for future legal guest workers,” the letter concludes. “Done properly, reform will deter illegal immigration, protect and complement our U.S. workforce, better respond to changing economic and demographic needs, and generate greater productivity and economic activity.”

The full letter can be viewed on the AWC web site at: http://bit.ly/2nPNd6H.

About the Agriculture Workforce Coalition
The AWC brings together organizations representing the diverse needs of agricultural employers across the country. The coalition serves as the unified voice of agriculture in the effort to ensure that America’s farmers, ranchers and growers have access to a stable and secure workforce now and in the future.