Challenges 2025 NW Hort Council Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, this is today’s Fruit Grower Report. The new year brings new challenges that need to be addressed in agriculture.I asked Northwest Horticultural Council Senior Vice President, Kate Tynan if there was any good news for agriculture in 2025 …
TYNAN … “Well, I would say one piece of good news is the presumed appointee for the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez DeRemer. She is a Representative from Oregon. She’s familiar with our industry and our region, and she’s somebody we’ve actually worked very closely with on reforms to the H-2A program, including challenges related to wage growth.”
And that’s good, Tynan says in so many ways …
TYNAN … “She is actually, not only familiar with these issues, but supportive of the reforms that we really think need to happen. So, we’re excited to have her coming into that position and are hopeful that we’ll have an ally moving forward to maybe, at least, make some changes on the regulatory side to make the program more palatable.”
On the challenging side, Tynany says getting a new Farm Bill will get a lot of our time, but …
TYNAN … “The Farm Bill is only important if there’s still grower around growing fruit to utilize it. So, and those labor cost challenges are just so impactful.”
More is better, Tynan says but we’ll take what we can get …
TYNAN … “That’s certainly an area where, you know, whether large or small, we’re trying to get any sort of improvement that we possibly can.”
Again, that’s Katy Tynan, Senior VP at the Northwest Horticultural Council.