J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 8 POTATO GROWER We Can Solve The Ag Labor Crisis The headlines during last year’s campaign were discouraging for labor-dependent agriculture. Lost in election broadsides over build- ing a wall and legalizing sanctuary cities were very real concerns from American farmers about lack of available labor and the resulting cost to the economy. Agriculture has long known that foreign hands will harvest their crops. Despite the average wage for field and livestock workers ris- ing in 2016 to $12.20 nationwide, the agriculture labor force still declined and included almost no American-born participants. Therefore, the only question was whether those foreign hands would be harvesting U.S.-grown crops or those produced in foreign countries. Since last November, the ag labor crisis has only increased as immi- gration enforcement has stepped up and Congress has largely avoid- ed the issue. Crops are going unharvested. Farmers following the rules are still having their farms raided and operations dis- rupted. The sole legal guest worker program that serves agriculture (H-2A) is swelling beyond the capacity of the federal govern- ment to manage it, as panicked farmers seek any available means of harvesting their crops. Despite these challenging current events, Congress and the Administration can solve this cri- sis. The solution is three-fold; bring today’s workforce out of the shadows with the benefit of legal work status combined with penal- ties to atone for past actions, cre- ate a new guest worker program that can evolve with agriculture’s future needs, and create a strong enforcement program to make sure all sides play by the rules. Each of the specific elements of these three “pillars” is well- known, achievable and can be implemented with today’s tech- NPC Mes sage by John Keeling, NPC Executive Vice President and CEO