Earlier this fall, House Agriculture Committee Chair Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson alluded to pushing to pass the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026 (SAWA) bill after the midterms. Now that the dust is settling, agricultural groups say it’s time to bring the SAWA conversation back to the forefront.
Jamie Fussell, director of labor relations with the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, says this push for SAWA comes as the agricultural industry also hopes to get a farm bill across the threshold.
He says growers in Florida have faced significant rain in the past few days, which he says has been called a “1000-year storm event.” And he says that’s just another assessment hitting growers at a time when harvest has begun and some H-2A contracts have started.
Fussell says his message to his members hasn’t changed; ag labor reform is as important as ever.
“Right now is about as stable as it’s going to be until we’re going to have a new rule,” Fussell says of H-2A wages. “The (adverse effect wage rate) is still volatile the way it is. Who knows what we’re going to have next. It’s probably not going to be as helpful as this one is.”
Fussell says he’s also told growers that the regulatory landscape isn’t always as helpful as a grower would hope in bringing about changes and improvements.
“So, we have to get it done in Congress,” he says.
Need Grows for Congressional Action
During the congressional recess, Fussell says many growers had their representatives and legislators on their farms and met and spoke with them to convey the gravity and need for labor reform.
“The folks that could be impactful on this are well aware of the issue, and we’re just going to continue the drumbeats,” he says. “We need this now. We told you four or five months ago we needed it this year. We still need it this year.”
The urgency, Fussell says, has continued. He says that now that the midterms are over, the industry has started to look at what the results mean for both the lame-duck sessions and looking ahead to 2027.
“Hopefully, we’re starting to understand what that means and move forward; we can get back to some good advocacy and hopefully the Congress members will get to work by the end of the year,” he says.
A rallying cry Fussell says he’s told his growers is: “We have to both meet the moment and make the moment as the industry.” With so many factors outside growers’ and ag advocates’ control, it’s important for growers to show up for the ag industry.
“This is a priority issue for everyone, and so it’s up to everyone to make it happen,” he says.
Conversations ag industry organizations are having right now are about taking a good look at where to focus efforts to push for a farm bill and the passage of SAWA, leaning into each organization’s strengths and involving members to bring home the message best.
“We’re all having to just pull up our bootstraps and work where we can and see where momentum gives and we can gain some traction,” he says.
Bipartisan Momentum and Industry Unity
He says what is heartening is that the entire ag industry supports SAWA’s passing. In past iterations of ag labor reform, the bills often picked winners and losers, but that’s not the case with this bill. He says it’s not a wish list, but a bill Thompson created with care that has bipartisan support.
“It is actually that good of a bill for the industry. It is what we need,” he says. “The support is there for it from the industry.”
He says the same with the farm bill as industry comes together to push to get the farm bill and SAWA passed.
“We have a lot of big ticket items that we need done,” he says. “We’ve needed them done. We’ve needed ag labor reform for now on 40 years. The farm bill is supposed to have been done two, three years ago. We should be gearing up to work on the next farm bill, but here we are still working on this one.”
