The Farm Workforce Modernization Act awaits Senate action during the lame-duck session, and it’s the closest meaningful immigration reform has come to the finish line in years. Research by David Bier, Cato Institute associate director of immigration studies, shows farmers would save billions over the next few years if the Senate passes the legislation.
“The Farm workforce Modernization Act would reduce labor costs for H-2A farms by about a billion dollars in the first year and about $1.8 billion in the second year, with even greater savings in the years to follow. Obviously, these savings would result in vastly greater productivity of those farms because they would be able to hire a lot more H-2A workers and that’s going to result in a lot more productivity on those farms,” he said.
Procedural changes by the Department of Labor regarding how it allows states to estimate prevailing wage for H-2A farm workers will result in more prevailing wage surveys. Those surveys aren’t happening right now because they have strict statistical requirements that the Department of Labor rule will remove, forcing the cost of labor to go even higher.
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Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.