Labor reform has long been a priorty for the U.S. Apple Association, says the organization, whose President and CEO Jim Bair spoke at a Sept. 15 press conference on Capitol Hill urging Senate action on the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. He joined Rep. Dan Newhouse and Rep. Mike Simpson, as well as other agriculture industry leaders as part of the American Business Immigration Coalition.
“Agriculture labor reform has been our top legislative priority for more than a decade. It’s the issue that keeps apple growers awake at night, whether they employ 500 workers or five,” said Bair in a statement. “An entire year of care and input costs can be lost when it’s time to harvest and workers arrive late or not at all.”
Like others in the ag industry, apple growers have increasingly turned to the H-2A guest worker program. While Bair estimates that apples may be the largest single commodity user of the program, he also says that workers are often delayed entrance to the program, due to “administrative red tape and the costs associated with the program,” which have outpaced inflation for decades.
“The reforms in the House-passed Farm Workforce Modernization Act would bring the needed stability and predictability to the agriculture labor market as a whole and specifically to the H-2A program,” Bair said.
He argues that if the H-2A wage rate was locked in for a time, growers could plan ahead knowing what their labor costs are for the year.
“Congressman Newhouse, who spoke earlier, represents the largest apple district in the country, and we are so grateful that he has put his shoulder to the wheel to work toward getting this important legislation across the finish line, not once, but twice,” said Bair. “Rep. Simpson, who is also here, has been a great leader, as well as those who on a bipartisan basis supported this effort.
Attention must now turn to the Senate, said Bair, who thanked Sen. Mike Bennett and Sen. Mike Crapo for their willingness to take the issue on. USApples also asked the Senate leadership to “put politics aside for the sake of food security and the economic viability” of rural communities.
“The past few years have created a perfect storm as growers’ input costs such as fuel, fertilizer and freight have risen as much as 300%, while lost export markets have left apples to overhang the market and make the strain even greater,” Bair said. “Apple growers are making tough decisions to determine if they can hang to continue producing America’s favorite fruit for another year, or if what has been a livelihood for three, four or more generations stops with them.”
