Farm Workforce Modernization Act and Christmas Tree Imports Higher
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.
**California Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups are urging the U.S. Senate to pass key farm labor legislation during the lame-duck session.
The Farm Workforce Modernization Act passed in the House with bipartisan support but has stalled in the Senate.
The legislation would provide a path to legal status for undocumented farmworkers and reform the H2-A temporary worker program.
Farm Bureau President Jamie Johansson said the bill offers a “fair solution” for ag workers.
**Christmas trees are iconic symbols of the holiday season, and while a vast majority are grown in the U.S., a small share are imported from Canada.
The USDA’s Economic Research Service reports, from 2000–15, live Christmas tree imports averaged around two million trees per year at an inflation-adjusted annual value of $36.1 million.
But, by 2022, live tree imports reached nearly 2.8 million trees at a value of $68 million.
**USDA's Economic Research Service forecasts inflation-adjusted U.S. net cash farm income to increase $30.1 billion, to $187.9 billion in 2022, a 19.1% increase.
This total would be the highest on record.
U.S. net farm income is forecast to increase by $10.7 billion, 7.2%, to $160.5 billion in 2022, its highest level since 1973 after adjusting for inflation.
Net farm income is a broader measure of farm sector profitability that incorporates noncash items.
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