Farmers Want Guestworkers

The American Farm Bureau Federation last week issued a stark warning to Senate leaders on the dangers to U.S. agriculture if immigration reform does not include guest worker provisions and adequate time to transition to a new program.

In a letter to Sens. Arlen Specter and Patrick Leahy, chairman and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, respectively, AFBF President Bob Stallman said that a significant number of farmers will go out of business because foreign competitors will take over American markets if the immigration issue is not handled correctly.  According to Stallman, immigration legislation must include a balanced, sensible approach that reflects the needs of U.S agriculture, including:

Guest worker provisions that are market-based and take into account U.S. agriculture’s unique labor needs, which can be seasonal or year-round. Adequate time to transition to a new program while maintaining the workforce agriculture needs to deliver products to market.

Stallman said any immigration reform proposal that does not include guest worker provisions would cause significant losses to U.S. agriculture. According to recent analysis by AFBF, up to one-third of the U.S. fruit and vegetable sector would disappear under the current House legislation. Between $5 billion and $9 billion in U.S. production would be lost to foreign producers, and net farm income for the rest of agriculture would decline by as much as $5 billion annually.

“We cannot – and will not – stand by while solutions are considered that will have the impact of decimating U.S. agriculture,” said Stallman. “Such a result is clearly not necessary, and we are disturbed that the debate has evolved to the point where some are ready to turn their backs on agriculture by advocating such an outcome.”

source: cattle network.com, Jan. 31, 2006

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