Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins was joined by three other cabinet members, three governors, several members of the House and Senate, and other officials at USDA headquarters Tuesday to announce the National Farm Security Action Plan. “This Action Plan puts America’s farmers, families, and future first—exactly where they belong. Under President Trump’s leadership, American agriculture will be strong, secure, and …
Trump Talks Up Farmers in Iowa
President Donald Trump celebrated the passage of his One Big Beautiful Bill and touted his plans for the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding next year with an address at the Iowa State Fairgrounds focused on farmers. “This bill rescues over two million family farms from the so-called estate tax or the death tax. In other words, before Trump, you …
Entrepreneurs Help Revitalize Rural Revenues
The topic for the recent Agri-Pulse Ag & Food Policy Summit was Revitalizing Rural Revenues, exploring a wide variety of options, including a panel on rural entrepreneurs like Kevin Johansen who founded AgButler, a gig economy platform that serves as a solution to a rural labor shortage in America. Johansen says the company, which launched in 2020, has grown exponentially. …
Rabo AgriFinance at Ag Media Summit
“U.S. Agriculture’s Labor Crisis: Can It Be Fixed?” was the topic for the Ag Media Summit Newsmakers session last week, sponsored by Rabo AgriFinance. David Magaña, RaboResearch Fresh Produce Analyst, gave some insights into the reduction of the agricultural labor force available due to a declining percentage of young people. “Obviously this has been a challenge for years for agriculture,” …
Dairy Industry Faces Labor Shortage
A coalition of organizations representing farm labor, dairy business, cooperatives, and the food industry held a press event this week at World Dairy Expo to draw attention to the labor shortage being faced by dairy farmers. The American Business Immigration Coalition Action (ABIC Action), Edge Dairy/Wisconsin Dairy Business Association, National Milk Producers Federation, the American Dairy Coalition, Indiana Dairy Producers, …
másLabor Announces Merger with AgWorks H2
másLabor, the nation’s leading provider of comprehensive services for employers participating in the H-2A and H-2B nonimmigrant visa programs, has announced a merger with AgWorks H2, LLC (“AgWorks”) a Georgia-based H-2A and H-2B consulting firm that ranks among the nation’s top providers. Together, the two companies obtain approvals for their clients to employ over 60,000 foreign workers per year – …
Farm Workers Not Included in Immigration Order
President Donald Trump will be signing an Executive Order today prohibiting immigration into the United States for 60 days, but that order will not apply to seasonal farm workers. “Farmers will not be affected by this at all,” the president said during the daily Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Tuesday. “If anything we’re going to make it easier.” (:44)
Agriculture Groups Urge Action on Farm Labor
Agriculture organizations are urging immediate action on the evolving farm labor situation to avoid impacting the nation’s food supply during this critical time. The Agriculture Workforce Coalition (AWC) called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to recognize all H-2A as well as any other non-immigrant visa petition involving an agricultural worker visa consular processing functions as essential and direct U.S. …
COVID-19 Restrictions Could Impact Food Supply
Beginning today, the United States will suspend routine immigrant and nonimmigrant processing visa services in Mexico indefinitely, including immigrant workers approved under the H-2A guest worker program who are needed to help farmers and ranchers get food in the grocery stores. “The decision to halt visa application processing in Mexico will restrict the number of immigrant workers being allowed to …
Rep. Yoho Introduces Bipartisan Ag Labor Bill
House Agriculture Committee member Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) has introduced the “Labor Certainty for Food Security Act” (HR 6083) to “bring relief to America’s farmers and ranchers who are struggling to find steady, reliable labor.” “Without a steady, reliable workforce, food prices will increase, and Americans will feel the effects at their local checkout line. If congress does not address …