Deal with Farm Labor Problems
Ohio Correspondent
Nearly 20 representatives from poultry, dairy, floral, nursery and landscape organizations as well as the Farm Bureau, attended the meeting hosted by Ohio Farm Bureau at the Agricultural Business Enhancement Center in Bowling Green.
All the representatives indicated the labor shortage in their respective areas of interest was a problem. Specialty labor workers are in short supply, not just in the unskilled area, but at technical and managerial levels as well.
With low unemployment resulting in higher wages, the need for migrant workers has become even greater. Many have “settled out” and become permanent residents, with replacements coming from single and less experienced workers. As factories are also recruiting this type of labor, less reliable workers have to be paid at a higher level. Farm worker unions are not recruiting available labor supplies as they are in the West.
A regional organization would focus on labor problems unique to the region, concentrating on what each state can do collectively and individually. A regional labor web site would become a repository of labor information, with both federal and state baselines for various agency regulations, plus applicable court decisions. Compliance seminars would be set up to provide newest information to employers over a period of time.
Participants in this regional conference agreed in general that agricultural producers and employers can no longer rely on government to solve their problems, and that it is time to work more closely together. Seasonal labor employers have previously been a minority of agricultural producers. This trend is changing as all segments of agriculture report labor challenges. The goal is to band together on a regional basis to develop cost effective and reliable resources to manage agricultural labor issues in specific areas.
Future plans of the coordinating group call for a subcommittee from each state to put together a business plan and establish a timetable to form a regional organization that will assure a more reliable farm labor supply. A regional employers organization that could offer coordinated management services is among the possibilities. The organization would utilize existing legal structures of member state farm bureaus to help keep initial costs low.
Since each state has already enacted labor legislation that supersedes or expands existing federal regulations, the development of state compliance manuals will help Midwest producers understand these variances. They would also serve as a guideline for current and future labor policies. Various information policies are also being reviewed.
Craig Anderson, manager of the Regulatory Compliance Assistance Program, prepared background information for the Michigan Farm Bureau. He indicated that the states of Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois had more than 112,000 agricultural employers, with nearly 9,000 employing 10 or more workers. Total wages and payroll for hired and contract labor in the region was almost at the $1.5 billion figure, according to the l997 census.
Mike Pullins, executive director of the Ohio Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, a participant in the conference, says there is a need for a regional approach, since existing labor shortages will not get any better, and will not be solved by governmental action.
Owners and operators with a larger number of employees, who are attempting to meet regulations, have been hit with substantial penalties and legal costs in all categories of ag-related business. Speakers agreed that there is a need for client assistance to help farmers know and understand increasingly complex federal and state regulations regarding immigration, housing and recruiting.
Federal legislation to ease restrictions on guestworkers who enter the U.S. on H-2-A visas for short periods of time is now being considered again in Congress after almost being enacted in 1998. New provisions would permit undocumented workers who can prove they worked l50 days in U.S. agricultural work during the l2 month period prior to enactment to eventually earn legal status. Those eligible would have non-immigrant status and could work no more than l0 months annually in the United States. The opportunity for permanent residency could be earned by working in agriculture for a minimum of 180 days annually in five of seven years. Workers could work anywhere in the U.S. and select their employer.
Current federal law does permit some financial help for migrant workers who desire to stay in their current location longer than the harvest season. The Sandusky County Human Services Department in Fremont, Ohio has received funding to attract and hold migrant workers to that area. Families would receive $300 a month for four months including $l00 to be used to reduce food stamp payments, while growers would get $1,000 for each migrant family they were housing for more than 80 days a year.
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