In September, the American Business Immigration Coalition Action, Dairy Farmers of America, AmericanHort, International Fresh Produce Association, Kansas Livestock Association, Livestock Marketing Association and Kansas Chamber met to call attention to the urgency of solving agricultural labor shortages.
With negotiations ongoing in the U.S Senate, the gathering gave a voice to farmers from both Kansas and Missouri concerning farm-related workforce issues in their regions, hindering agricultural productivity and output. Farm industry leaders and Kansas business advocates encouraged Kansas and Missouri’s U.S. senators to pass legislation to ease year-round employment of out-of-country workers in the face of domestic workforce shortages.
“In order to protect our food security and national security, and to meet our workforce needs, we have to have a responsive immigration system,” said Vice President of Government Affairs Eric Stafford. “We encourage Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall to support agricultural workforce reform.”
According to National Council of Farmer Cooperatives President and CEO Chuck Conner, events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine have illustrated the critical importance of food security. He expressed that problems surrounding the agricultural labor crisis are nothing short of a national security issue.
“If the past is any guide, the bill will include dozens of programs critical to ensuring food security, from crop insurance to conservation, from research to nutrition,” Conner said. “But without action hanging over the process will be one issue—ag labor—that threatens to undermine every program in that legislation. Quite simply, America’s farmers, ranchers, growers and co-ops cannot survive, let alone thrive, without a workforce.”
