U.S. Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA) reintroduced the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, H.R. 1537, on Wednesday which creates a workforce solution for America’s agriculture industry by providing stability, predictability and fairness to one of the most important sectors of the nation’s economy.
The bill, which passed the House of Representatives with strong bipartisan support in the 116th Congress, aims to provide a compromise solution that makes meaningful reforms to the H-2A agricultural guestworker program and creates a first-of-its-kind, merit-based visa program specifically designed for the nation’s agricultural sector, Lofgren’s office said in a release.
Among other provisions, it would amend the H-2A program to allow a capped number of visas for farmworkers to work year-round.
“The U.S. pork industry is suffering from a serious labor shortage, negatively impacting farms and processing plants. Unfortunately, the current H-2A visa program is designed for seasonal agriculture, ignoring the needs of U.S. pork producers and other year-round livestock farmers. Without visa reform to support a sustainable workforce, production costs may increase, which could lead to higher food prices for consumers,” said National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) President Jen Sorenson, communications director for Iowa Select Farms in West Des Moines, Iowa, in a release.
Lofgren said stabilizing the workforce will protect the future of farms and the food supply. She believes the Farm Workforce Modernization Act accomplishes this by providing a path to legal status for farmworkers and updating and streamlining the H-1A temporary worker visa program while ensuring fair wages and working conditions for all workers.
“The men and women who work America’s farms feed the nation. But many of them do so while living and working in a state of uncertainty and fear, which has only been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lofgren said in a release. “I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle and in both Houses of Congress to get this bipartisan legislation that serves the best interests of our country to the President’s desk.”
The U.S. pork industry offers good jobs with solid pay and benefits, NPPC noted in a release. However, most Americans don’t live near hog farms or harvest facilities and rural populations continue to decline; therefore, the U.S. pork industry is largely dependent on foreign-born workers. Visa reform is critical to making sure U.S. livestock agriculture can compete globally and continue to provide safe and affordable pork to Americans and consumers worldwide.
“We look forward to working with Congress to enact meaningful labor reform that both opens the H-2A program to year-round labor without a cap and provides legal status for agricultural workers already in the country. Though changes to the current proposal will be necessary to meet those needs, we’re confident Congress will find a solution that works for all parties,” Sorenson said.
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