Worker
shortages drives farm embrace of immigration plan [Bloomberg]
Labor
shortages that left crops rotting in fields have farm organizations backing a
U.S. Senate immigration proposal that would treat workers in agriculture
“differently” than in other industries. The American Farm Bureau Federation,
the United Farm Workers as well as fruit and vegetable growers said they’ve
been involved in discussions with lawmakers in crafting the first serious
attempt to revamp immigration law since 2007. A bipartisan group of eight
senators yesterday unveiled a statement of principles for the plan, which
acknowledges the need to maintain an adequate food supply. “We appreciate the
Senate’s recognition of agriculture’s unique needs,” said Kristi Boswell, a
labor analyst for the Farm Bureau. “We’re working for a program that works for
the strawberry grower in California and the dairies in the Midwest and the
apple grower in upstate New York.”… A California Farm Bureau study last year
found that 71 percent of tree-fruit growers and almost 80 percent of raisin and
berry growers couldn’t find enough workers to prune trees or vines or pick the
crops.
California
farmers welcome immigration reform plan [Los Angeles Times]
After
a group of bipartisan senators unveiled a plan to grant legal status to an
estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., California farmers lauded
Monday’s announcement, saying it would help farmers more easily hire farmhands.
Farmers in the state have for years lobbied for immigration reform, citing
difficulties in hiring labor to pick produce and do other farmwork. Paul
Wenger, president of the California Farm Bureau, the largest farm organization
in the state, welcomed the move by the group of senators. “Farmers struggle to
hire enough domestic employees, so they rely on foreign employees willing to
harvest America’s food,” Wenger said in a statement. “Many of the people who
tend to the food we eat are not properly documented. Reform of immigration laws
should secure our borders and allow immigrants who are contributing to our
communities to work in farming.”
Opinion: We’re running out
of farm workers. Immigration reform won’t help. [Washington Post]
For
years, one of the groups pushing hardest for immigration reform has been the
U.S. food industry. Farmers have long grumbled about a shortage of labor, and
they’ve asked for policies that make it easier to hire foreign workers from
places like Mexico….But a new paper from U.C. Davis offers up a simpler
explanation for the labor shortage. Mexico is getting richer. And, when a
country gets richer, its pool of rural agricultural labor shrinks. Not only are
Mexican workers shifting into other sectors like construction, but Mexico’s own
farms are increasing wages. That means U.S. farms will have to pay higher and
higher wages to attract a dwindling pool of available Mexican farm workers.
“It’s a simple story,” says Edward Taylor, an agricultural economist at U.C.
Davis and one of the study’s authors. ”By the mid-twentieth century, Americans
stopped doing farm work. And we were only able to avoid a farm-labor crisis by
bringing in workers from a nearby country that was at an earlier stage of
development. Now that era is coming to an end.”
A
break for embattled ranchers [New York Times]
Reflecting
diminishing fears over mad cow disease, Japan eased its decade-old restriction
on imports of American beef on Monday, but industry experts said beef producers
faced many more challenges to reverse a prolonged slump that has pared the
nation’s herd to its lowest level in 60 years and sent prices soaring. A
Japanese government council that oversees food and drug safety cleared a change
in import regulations that would permit imports of meat from American cattle 30
months old or younger, rather than the current 20 months. The change is set to
take effect on Friday for American beef processed after that date, and
shipments could start arriving in Japan in mid-February, according to the
Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Study
says leafy greens top food poisoning source [Associated Press]
A
big government study has fingered leafy greens like lettuce and spinach as the
leading source of food poisoning, a perhaps uncomfortable conclusion for health
officials who want us to eat our vegetables."Most meals are safe,"
said Dr. Patricia Griffin, a government researcher and one of the study's
authors who said the finding shouldn't discourage people from eating produce.
Experts repeated often-heard advice: Be sure to wash those foods or cook them
thoroughly. While more people may have gotten sick from plants, more died from
contaminated poultry, the study also found. The results were released Tuesday
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Chowchilla,
high-speed rail settle lawsuit over route [Fresno Bee]
The
California High-Speed Rail Authority announced Monday it has settled a lawsuit
filed by the city of Chowchilla over the rail agency's approval of a
bullet-train route between Merced and Fresno. The settlement removes one hurdle
from the rail authority's plans to begin construction this year in Madera and
Fresno counties on the first segment of its proposed statewide system….But two
other lawsuits challenging the environmental approval of the section still are
pending in Sacramento Superior Court, and other legal obstacles are all but
certain to arise….The Chowchilla lawsuit was one of three filed against the
rail authority over the Merced-Fresno section. The Madera and Merced county
Farm Bureau organizations were joined by Madera County, local water and farm
preservation organizations and property owners in one of the cases. The other
was filed on behalf of corporate property owners in Fresno and Madera counties.
Ag
Today is distributed to county Farm Bureaus, CFBF directors and CFBF staff, for
information purposes, by the CFBF Communications/News Division, 916-561-5550; news@cfbf.com.
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