Senate Proposal to Overhaul Guest Worker Program

The American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall says the Securing Agriculture's Workforce Act directly addresses the top concern he hears from farmers, which is the inability to find dependable labor. The bill introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glen “GT” Thompson would expand access to the H to a guest worker program and modernize what Thompson calls a broken farm labor system. Duvall says a key element of the legislation is increasing access to a year-round workforce.

“The H2A program that currently exists is a seasonal guest worker program. In certain parts of this country, it doesn't make any difference what you're doing, the works there every day, whether it's harvesting a crop or pruning and preparing them for the next crop. So, the biggest issue is having year-round workers.”

The proposal would also allow certain undocumented agricultural employees already in the US to apply for temporary legal status if they meet eligibility requirements, while the bill aligns closely with the needs of year-round operations, some provisions are expected to face opposition as Congress continues broader debates over immigration policy. Thompson says, with the border now secure, it's time to provide fair legal pathways for agriculture to obtain workers when US citizens are not available for these jobs. With today's Line on Agriculture report. I'm Lorrie Boyer for the Ag Information Network.