Idaho Republican Congressman Mike Simpson and Farmers Urge Sens. Crapo (R-ID) and Bennett (D-CO) to Pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act Now

ABIC Action “Priced-Out” Report showing $23 billion savings to protect American agriculture and food security.

WATCH LIVESTREAM: HERE

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today U.S. Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID) joined farmers, the New York Farm Bureau, and ABIC Action for a virtual information briefing on ABIC Action’s new report showing dramatic cost savings for farmers should the Senate pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act (FWMA) this year. Speaking to all invited farmers nationwide who use the H-2A guest worker program, Congressman Simpson encouraged his own Idaho Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Senator Mike Bennet (D-CO) to act now and file the FWMA in this lame duck session.

“We are now past elections; we are now in the final two weeks of the lame duck session and time is running out,” said ABIC Action Executive Director Rebecca Shi. “Farmers are being priced out and the cost of food will spike yet again unless Crapo and Bennet pass a bill immediately.”

The ABIC Action report comes as the Department of Labor announced a new 7% – 15.5% spike in wage rates for farm guest workers under the H-2A program that will drive up costs for farmers and American consumers. This would be prevented if the Senate passes the FWMA (already passed in the House of Representatives), which would freeze H-2A guest worker wages for one year, then cap wages at 3.25%.

“We worked on this for two years, Republicans and Democrats in the House. Both sides gave up something; they got something. That’s the way compromise works,” said Rep. Simpson. “The reason that this needs to get done in the next two weeks is because I believe that if it’s not done by the end of this session, it won’t get done for the next two years.. Wages are going to go up between 7% and 15.5%. Add that to the cost of fertilizers, the cost of diesel, the cost of transportation and other things, the cost of food is going to go through the ceiling if we don’t get this bill passed… Some people have said, “farmers whine and then they’re fine.” That’s not the case here, boys. This needs to get done right away. Call or text your senators or Senators Crapo and Bennet and tell them to get this done.”

“A large potato operation in Idaho that hires 50 H-2A workers around harvest time would save around $98,573 per year,” said ABIC Action Director of Outreach James O’Neill. “This is not an arbitrary deadline. This legislation represents money taken out of farmers’ pockets on January 1 if we cannot get this done.”

“Every year it gets harder to find seasonal and permanent employees, especially for us because we’re so rural, and especially for irrigation… Not many people want to irrigate. We turned to the H-2A program for that about five years ago. The program is expensive, but it’s worth it because we get quality people,” said Janille Baker, Controller of Baker Ranches, Inc. in Utah and Nevada.

She continued, “A week ago, the Department of Agriculture released the federally mandated wage rates that will go into effect on January 1. Utah and Nevada will experience a single jump here of 5% and that’s actually on the lower side. Florida’s went up 15%. 5% might not seem like a lot but labor makes up about 30% of my operation’s budget at this point, so it makes a real impact. Putting together some rough numbers, our wages will be up about 10% from last year… The Farm Workforce Modernization Act will help us keep our operation going and running the way we would like to and give us the stability to budget for labor. According to ABIC Action’s report, it (FMWA) would put about $9,000 back in my pocket, according to what they are looking at but in actuality, just putting together again the rough numbers, it’s about $40,000 for me. Could be more than that, taking other things into consideration.”

“It was recently announced that the 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate for New York is going to go up $1.29 per hour to $16.95 from $15.66, representing an increase of 8% which is above the national average rate which is about 6.8%. It’ll have a huge impact on our farm as labor costs end up being about 40% of all of our expenses. It is critical that the Senate take action on this,” said Brian Reeves, Partner, Reeves Farms; Member, New York Farm Bureau.

He continued, “According to some of these figures that I’ve seen here, if New York could roughly average about $2,800 per worker savings, and with 72 workers, I haven’t done the actual math but 2800×72 is gotta approach $200,000 in savings in our farm each year and these are savings, which would be vital for us to be financially viable into the future.”

KEY FINDINGS:

The ABIC Action report lays out H-2A cost savings for individual farmers should the FWMA, which is critical to solving agricultural labor shortages and sustaining the U.S. economy,  become law this year. A few examples:

• A Colorado rancher who hires 25 temporary employees with H-2A would save at least $38,913 per year.

• A large potato operation in Idaho with 50 H-2A workers at harvest time would save over $98,573 per year.

• A small wheat farmer in North Dakota who hires a single H-2A custom harvester would save at least $2,090 per year.

• A livestock farmer in Kansas with 10 H-2A workers would save well over $17,549 in H-2A program costs alone.

To find data by state and farm size: Click Here.

BACKGROUND

In 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act with bipartisan support. That was a good start, and now in the Senate, Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mike Bennet (D-CO) have taken the lead on negotiating improvements on the House’s solutions and moving the process forward. Passing new Senate legislation is critical to solving labor shortages facing the agriculture sector and sustaining our economy as a whole.

On the national level, Texas A&M International University released data from a new economic study on the link between stabilizing the agricultural workforce and decreasing inflation and consumer prices, showing that ensuring farmers have a stable, secure, reliable, and legal workforce is crucial to keeping America’s grocery shelves stocked, combating inflation, and lowering food prices (including milk, eggs, meat, and produce) for all domestic consumers.

Addressing workforce shortages facing farm employers and stabilizing the H-2A visa application process is also crucial for enhancing our national food security by protecting domestic agriculture production. According to the USDA, next year, for the first time in U.S. history, we as a country will be importing more agricultural goods than we export.

ABOUT

ABIC Action is the political arm of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), a bipartisan coalition of over 1,200+ CEOs, business owners and trade associations across 17 mostly red and purple states. ABIC Action promotes common sense immigration reform that advances economic competitiveness, provides companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and citizens.