02/08/08 Changing H2A

Changing H2A. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. Farmers biggest challenge this year probably won't be growing the crop but having the workers to bring it in. The labor issue continues to be the frontrunner when to comes to ag issues. USDA has opted to make some welcome changes to the H2A program and according to Washington Farm Bureau's Dan Fazio. FAZIO: The employer could file and attestation only saying they are going to need the workers on such and such a date and then the application would be sent in right to the Department of Labor and then they would assume it was going to happen unless there was local workers that were found. So you get to put your application in and then work towards the goal of getting the workers. Housing would not have to be pre-approved just ready to go when workers arrive. He says there is some new worker portability. FAZIO: The workers could transition from one farmer to another. They could stay up here for I think it's a maximum of three years. When they are done with one farmer who is certified under the program they could go to another farm. Unfortunately the State of Washington has decided not to follow the federal guidelines regarding referrals. FAZIO: The federal government has made it very clear to the states that they want the state workforce agencies to check to make sure that they are verifying and sending out legal workers to the farmers on these referrals and baffling as it may seem the State of Washington and a handful of other states are refusing to do this. Washington Farm Bureau is working right now to get the state to comply. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.