The Agriculture Workforce Coalition this week emphasized the importance of immigration reform for America’s farmers and ranchers in a letter sent to President Donald Trump.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Agriculture Workforce Coalition this week emphasized the importance of immigration reform for America’s farmers and ranchers in a letter sent to President Donald Trump. 70 groups representing a variety of crops grown in every region in the country joined in sending the letter that calls for reforms to ensure that American agriculture has a legal, stable supply of workers—in both the long- and short-term—for all types of producers.
“The economic health of food and fiber producers, and the rural communities in which they live, is threatened by the lack of a reliable, stable and legal workforce. Our farmers face growing shortages of legally authorized and experienced workers each year,” the groups state. “This shortage of labor negatively impacts our economic competitiveness, local economies and jobs. Reforms are necessary to address the agricultural labor shortage.”
The AWC points out that the labor shortage threatens jobs far beyond the farm. Indeed, each farmworker engaged in labor-intensive crop or livestock production supports two to three other jobs off farm, including those with transportation providers, input suppliers, processors and retailers.