New York Farm Bureau Lists National Priorities

New York Farm Bureau leaders plan to meet with members of New York’s congressional delegation this week in Washington, D.C. to outline their federal priorities. 

They are in the nation’s capital to take in American Farm Bureau Federation’s Advocacy Conference. It is kicking off a year full of activities where New York Farm Bureau members will be engaged on the organization’s member approved public policy priorities. 

In addition, New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher and Elizabeth Wolters, New York Farm Bureau's associate director of national affairs, held a press conference call with reporters the morning of Feb. 28 to publicly unveil the priorities. The priorities are listed below.

Immigration
Immigration reform remains a top priority for New York’s farmers. While this is something New York Farm Bureau has been discussing for a long time, the issue is especially in the forefront right now with enforcement actions taken by the Trump Administration.

Farm Bureau believes in having stronger border security, but enforcement cannot be the only approach to fixing a broken immigration system. 

It also involves having a workable guest worker program that allows farmers to fill positions on their farms when they cannot find anyone locally to do the work. This involves having an improved guest worker visa program that addresses both seasonal and year-round needs of our farmers.

Reforms should allow current, trained workers to stay on farms and maintain a consistent workforce to plant and harvest crops, and care for livestock. 

There are proposals on the table to reform the federal H2A guest worker program that would open up the legal process to allow workers to be here longer than a growing season while reducing the regulatory burden that often leads to delays and headaches for farms and employees alike. 

Last year, some New York farms experienced delays of a month or more in having their workers arrive in this country to work on the farm.  That is unacceptable when you need to plant and harvest crops on time.

“This is an issue that has major implications for farmers and their employees.  We have to have a system in place that will allow farms in this country to grow the food we need to feed ourselves. The only alternative is to import food grown outside of our borders and that becomes a national security issue,” said Fisher.

A lack of serious reform is not just a problem for farms, but for their seasonal and year round foreign employees as well. They are hardworking people who sought new opportunities in this country to support themselves and their families. They are giving back in many ways. 

“Let’s be clear, when they seek employment on our farms, we are obliged under the law to accept their paperwork. As far as we know, they are here legally,” said Fisher. “However, when they are targeted by ICE and law enforcement, some workers may not have legal documentation after all.  Enforcement actions can break up families and send others into hiding. This is in addition to leaving farms without enough employees needed to care for animals or harvest the crops.”

New York Farm Bureau will work with the Trump Administration and our representatives in Congress to find a workable solution that strikes an important balance between strong enforcement and a strong guest visa program.

Regulatory Reform
Regulatory Reform is another national priority for New York Farm Bureau. Its members have long been in opposition to proposed changes to the Clean Water Act that they believe broadens the jurisdiction of “Waters of the U.S.” rule. 

It would expand regulations from traditional navigable waters to also including dry land. The Environmental Protection Agency has placed an undue burden and increased regulatory control on farmers with no added benefit to the environment.

The issue is currently tied up in the courts after a federal appeals court issued an injunction on its enforcement.  However, Farm Bureau will continue to support efforts to prevent the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the rule.  

This does not mean farmers are looking to dismantle regulations that have proven value in keeping our water clean in this country. However, the EPA failed to establish scientific justification for its rule change, did not address the tens of thousands of public comments that explained how it is unworkable on farms in this country, and it created a public campaign meant to discredit those people who disagreed with the rule change. 

New York Farm Bureau is confident the courts will find that this is a violation, and farm bureau members will look to their congressional representatives to hold the EPA accountable to follow the intent of the law that Congress established under the Clean Water Act. 

It is a priority to pursue rational and effective regulatory policies that are transparent, fact-based and the will of Congress.

“Necessary regulations are one thing.  A federal government that oversteps its bounds and circumvents Congress is quite another,” said Wolters.

Farm Bill
Finally, discussions are beginning on the Farm Bill, which comes up for renewal every five years. This is the biggest piece of legislation that impacts every farmer in the state as it sets policy and funding for things like crop insurance, specialty crop research, rural development, farm to consumer programs, disaster assistance and so much more.  

A large component of the bill is also nutrition assistance, which New York Farm Bureau believes is an important part of the Farm Bill and is a necessary component to get the legislation through Congress.

As discussions continue leading up to a vote next year, it is a priority of New York Farm Bureau to keep baseline funding for the myriad of programs. In the previous 2014 Farm Bill, agriculture took a major funding hit of around $23 billion. That cannot happen again.   

There are many needs for agriculture. A proper safety net and a reformed Margin Protection Program for dairy farmers are two examples.

Farm income dropped a billion dollars in New York in 2015 to $5.3 billion. Farm income is expected to be down again for 2016. These tough economic times demonstrate why a strong, supportive Farm Bill is critical to the success of this state’s diverse agriculture community.

“We have to have a strong Farm Bill that invests in this country’s family farms and its rural communities to ensure we have a sustainable farm economy in this country,” said Wolters.

How 'A Day Without Immigrants" Affected Agriculture

Go to http://www.agriculture.com/news/business/how-a-day-without-immigrants-affects-the-agriculture-community to check out the story.

How President-Elect Trump's 100-Day Plan Affects Agriculture

Here's an interesting story on how the items President-Elect Trump wants to tackle first could affect agriculture.

Check it out at http://www.agweb.com/article/how-president-trumps-100-day-plan-affects-agriculture-naa-anna-lisa-laca/ this link.

New York Farm Bureau President's Statement on Immigration Letter To House of Representatives Leadership

Statement from NY Farm Bureau President Dean Norton:

“New York Farm Bureau very much appreciates the letter that four members of New York’s Republican Congressional delegation sent to their leadership in the House of Representatives, including to Speaker John Boehner.

"The letter signed by Congressmen Chris Gibson, Tom Reed, Richard Hanna and Chris Collins outlines the critical need for agriculture labor reform and underscores the harsh economic reality on farming in this state if nothing is done.

"The letter stresses that 'the inability of New York farmers to access a stable and legal workforce has cost New York jobs, and impacts the safe and reliable supply of food and fiber produced in this state.'

"We are seeing this statement ring true on our farms every day as major business decisions are put on hold out of worries we won’t have the workers needed for the basic farm duties like harvesting the crops or milking the cows. Some of our farmers have even scaled back food production because of a lack of labor.

"While our Representatives were back in their home districts during the August recess, New York Farm Bureau along with a number of other important stakeholder organizations had productive meetings with members of both parties who are eager to find a sensible solution that will not only help our farm economy prosper, but our country’s economy as well.

"It is time we have immigration reform, and we are hopeful the leadership in the House will take the letter to heart and act. As this country continues to have serious discussions about national security, having a safe and reliable food supply grown in the U.S. must be a part of that conversation. The only alternative to immigration reform is importing more of our food,” Norton said. 

New York Farm Bureau worked closely on this effort in conjunction with many others in support of immigration reform. They include the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA), Farm Credit East, New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Northeast Ag and Feed Alliance, Agrimark, Dairylea Cooperative, and Upstate Niagara Cooperative.

Vilsack Speaks of Farm Labor, Immigration For Labor Day

Weekly column from Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack:

Each year on Labor Day, we take time to reflect on the productivity of America’s workers and our responsibility as a nation to support their efforts.

This year, as we gather to celebrate, Congress has a timely opportunity to create an even stronger American workforce for generations to come. They can do so by fixing America’s broken immigration system.

Vilsack

The broad impacts that immigration reform would have for our economy are well documented.

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office and Social Security Office of the Chief Actuary, the bipartisan Senate immigration reform bill would boost our economy by 3.3 percent, reduce the deficit by a projected $850 billion and add nearly $300 billion to our Social Security system by the end of the decade.

But immigration reform would also address critical labor issues. 

Today’s broken system leaves millions of workers in the shadows – a dangerous situation for these workers and their families – and provides no clarity for U.S. employers, the majority of whom want to do the right thing. At a time when we should be providing rules that empower American productivity, today’s broken immigration system only furthers uncertainty.

This is especially true for agriculture. Farm workers drive an industry that is directly related to one in 12 American jobs. They’re in the fields as crops are planted, cared for and harvested. They’re in packing houses and processing facilities.  They help get food to markets and stores that ends up on kitchen tables across the country.

About half of these workers are unauthorized, and many more are employed under a temporary worker program that is difficult for farmers and farm workers alike to understand. In the years to come, the resulting instability in our agricultural workforce threatens productivity on farms and ranches, and impacts rural communities where agriculture is a thriving part of their economies.

The commonsense immigration reform measure passed in June by the U.S. Senate, with bipartisan support, would provide a comprehensive set of rules to ensure a stable and adequate workforce for agriculture.

It expands and reforms the temporary worker program to allow a three-year visa for agricultural workers, while enacting a pathway to citizenship for temporary workers who are committed to continue working in agriculture.

And it provides a fair opportunity to earn U.S. citizenship for those who are in our country without authorization – a process that will require going to the back of the line, settling taxes and paying fines for those who want to earn citizenship.

The result would be a modern system that makes sense. It would bring millions of farm workers out of the shadows and give them a fair chance to strive for the American dream. It would help farmers and ranchers focus on growing more and expanding their business. It would give agriculture the people power to keep driving economic growth and creating jobs.

This Labor Day, I’m hopeful that Congress can find a way to solve this modern labor challenge facing our nation.

We have a long history in America of supporting those who work hard – and Congress has the chance to make even more progress by passing commonsense immigration reform.

Farm Bureau, USDA Speak on Immigration Reform Bill Passed by U.S. Senate

The U.S. Senate today passed its bill on immigration reform.

Yahoo! News reports the following:

The Senate passed a sweeping immigration reform bill on Thursday afternoon, after a recently hashed-out compromise on border security helped convince a total of 14 Republicans to vote for the measure. The bill, which passed 68 to 32, could face a steep uphill climb in the Republican-controlled House.

The vote brings Congress a step closer to passing its first major immigration reform since the 1986 amnesty bill that legalized more than three million immigrants under President Ronald Reagan.

Moments before the vote, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) said on the Senate floor that the "historic legislation recognizes that today's immigrants came for the right reason, the same reason as the generations before them...the right to live in a land that's free."

Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa spoke against the measure on the floor, arguing that it does not do enough to increase interior immigration enforcement. "The bill won't ensure that a future Congress isn't back here in 25 years dealing with the very same problems," Grassley said.

The "Gang of Eight," a bipartisan group of senators who drafted the bill, had hoped to get 70 out of 100 senators to vote to pass the bill and send a strong signal to the Republican-controlled house that the legislation is bipartisan.

The bill fell just two votes short of that goal. Republican Senators Lamar Alexander, Kelly Ayotte, Jeffrey Chiesa, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Lindsay Graham, Orrin Hatch, Dean Heller, John Hoeven, Mark Kirk, John McCain, Lisa Murkowski and Marco Rubio joined the entire Democratic caucus in voting for the measure.

The reform will implement a mandatory, national employment verification system, allow for more legal immigration of low- and high-skilled workers, beef up border security and eventually give green cards to most of the nation's 11 million unauthorized immigrants who pass background checks and pay fines.

Here is a statement from New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton on the bill passage:

“Today’s passage of comprehensive immigration reform is a major milestone for New York’s farmers. It addresses critical short and long term needs that will better provide a stable workforce on our farms.

"Those needs include allowing employees who are already skilled and working in this state to stay here and eventually obtain legal status. It’s gratifying to see the hard work New York Farm Bureau has demonstrated on behalf of our farm families result in real movement on this issue for the first time in years.

"Currently, our farms face serious challenges in hiring the amount of workers required to plant and harvest the crops and milk the cows. While they always look locally, farmers often turn to migrant workers who are willing to perform jobs that Americans choose not to take.

"Also, there is a fear that if workers have fraudulent documentation, the employees could be detained and deported at a moment’s notice. Losing that productivity can place the future of the family farm in jeopardy if the food is literally left to rot in the fields.  That too puts our local food supply at risk.
 

"Migrant labor is a critical component of our farmers’ ability to supply consumers with the food they want at a reasonable price. NY Farm Bureau has already seen some members scale back production or move to less labor intensive crops because of concerns they have about a lack of labor.

"By limiting the growth of our family farms, we also limit the growth of our rural economies. Immigration reform will help spur agricultural economic development throughout the state.

"There is still a long fight ahead in the U.S. House, but we remain hopeful that the importance of this issue for New York’s farmers and farm workers will be the incentive lawmakers need to do what is right,” Norton said.

Here is a statement from U.S. Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack:

"Today's strong bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate to fix America's broken immigration system is good news for farmers and ranchers, good news for farm workers, and good news for rural America.

"The Senate plan would ensure the stable agricultural workforce that U.S. producers need in order to remain competitive with other nations and maintain our abundant, affordable food supply. For millions of farm workers who today live in the shadows, it will provide an appropriate opportunity to earn legal status by contributing to America's agricultural economy.

"In addition to being a strongly pro-agriculture bill, the Senate plan would grow the U.S. economy, strengthen the Social Security system and reduce our deficit.

"Following today's strong bipartisan vote by the Senate, the House of Representatives must continue the momentum toward passage of comprehensive immigration reform as soon as possible."

Immigration Issue Affects Both Dairy Farmers and Their Workers

Great story from North Country Public Radio about the immigration issue.

Go to http://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/22184/20130617/what-undocumented-dairy-workers-think-of-immigration-reform to check it out.

Vilsack Calls on Congress to Pass Immigration Reform

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks about why immigration reform is needed.

Governor and Kerry Kennedy Champion Migrant Farm Worker Rights

Go to http://auburnpub.com/ap/business/cuomo-ex-wife-kennedy-push-farm-workers-rights/article_3bb79df7-c1d3-5940-ad2f-e05528a11b4d.html to read the Associated Press story.

Pact Reached On Immigration Reform

From National Hog Farmers Assn.

Go to http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/13/us-usa-immigration-farm-idUSBRE93B18920130413?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews to read a Reuters story about the agreement.

Immigration Debate a Focus on New York Dairy Farmers

Some people think the immigration debate concerns only fruit and vegetable farmers.

But many dairy farmers also hire workers to help with milking and feeding cows.

Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/nyregion/in-immigration-debate-a-focus-on-new-york-dairy-farmers.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 to see how immigration reform affects New York's dairy industry.

GOP, Dems Agree Immigration Worker Program Needs to be Revamped

It seems Congress is finally agreeing that the immigration program must be made easier for farmers to obtain the workers they need each year.

Go to http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/193367871.html to read an Associated Press story about what Congress has done.

Farm Bureau Issues Its National Ag Priorities

Here is a release from New York Farm Bureau:


New York Farm Bureau and its President, Dean Norton, unveiled the major priorities it will advocate for in Washington, D.C. this year.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference call this morning, NYFB outlined three key areas it is targeting including the passage of a new Farm Bill, substantial immigration reform that recognizes New York’s farm needs and funding for disaster assistance.

Norton said it is imperative to get a successful Farm Bill through both houses of Congress before the current extension expires in September. With no action once again, it will leave New York’s farmers in limbo unable to truly plan for the year ahead without knowing if adequate insurance programs will be in place or if conservation programs will be available to make the land more productive and improve environmental stewardship.

New York Farm Bureau is also concerned additional cuts could be made to the billions already trimmed from the 2012 Farm Bill that never made it to the House floor for a vote. While New York’s farmers are willing to do their part in reducing the country’s deficit, NYFB will work to protect its farmers from further unreasonable cuts in funding.

“We can’t afford to nickel and dime our way into food insecurity in this country.  The food supply and the people who grow it are worth the investment whether on the farm side of the Farm Bill or for the supplemental nutrition programs,” Norton said.

Norton highlighted some key programs in the Farm Bill that are especially important to New York farmers.

They include having a proper transition program to the new margin insurance dairy safety net being proposed that offers a more risk based approach to dealing with volatile milk and feed prices as opposed to the current Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program.

New York Farm Bureau also supports full funding for conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Farmland Protection Program that assist farmers on being good stewards of the land.

Finally, there is strong support for new, enhanced specialty crop insurance programs. Many of these were negotiated into the unsuccessful 2012 Farm Bill, and NYFB will fight for their inclusion in a new bill during this Congress.

“This is so important for New York and our specialty crop growers,” said Norton. “We have very diverse crops in this state from fruits and vegetables to honey. You name it. We want to maintain that diversity in New York.”

New York Farm Bureau also is focusing its advocacy work in making sure New York’s farmers are represented in any immigration reform package that works its way through Washington.

NYFB is promoting changes that address both short- and long-term farm labor needs in this state. New York’s growing season is unique.  It is shorter than many states, especially those out west, and therefore demands some flexibility that may not be needed elsewhere.

However, the state’s dairy farmers do need a consistent workforce year round. It is imperative New York’s farmers have access to a steady, legal supply of employees.

“Immigration is a key issue for NY farms and employees and for consumers who want to continue to enjoy fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products,” said NYFB Public Policy Director Julie Suarez. “Without a stable workforce, food doesn’t get picked, cows don’t get milked and farms don’t have products to take to market.”

NYFB is pushing for a program that provides legitimate visa status for workers already here but may sometimes have questionable documentation and who are willing and able to do the work farmers depend on. These are workers who come from other countries for jobs that farmers try to fill first with local employees but are often unsuccessful.

These reforms should include both contract and non-contract options to assist in the flexibility that farmers and farmer workers need for labor protections, especially for the state’s fruit and vegetable growers.

Finally, during the conference call with reporters, New York Farm Bureau stressed the strong need to have properly funded disaster assistance programs in place. The hurricanes, frost, and drought New York farmers battled through the past two years demonstrated the devastating blows Mother Nature can deliver. However, the federal disaster assistance programs need to be more responsive and efficient in order to protect our farms and our food supply.  Washington must adequately fund the Emergency Conservation Program and the Emergency Watershed Program

“As we saw with the great delays in Congress with Hurricane Sandy, sometimes funding is left to the whim of politics, and we would like to see a more reliable funding stream protecting the businesses, the farms and the communities that rely on disaster assistance after a storm or natural disaster,” said Kelly Young, NYFB’s Senior Associate Director of National Affairs.

In addition, NYFB supports the addition of tax free savings accounts at the federal level for farmers to pull from when they are in need.  The risk management tool will give farmers the incentive to save and allow them to be more self-reliant during the bad years. 

And NYFB is working with lawmakers to properly fund important disaster programs that offer assistance for the state’s tree growers and livestock farmers. The programs were included in the Farm Bill extension, but no money was appropriated, leaving many of New York’s farms with little protection should disaster strike yet again.

“New York Farm Bureau has strong relationships with members of our congressional delegations, and we will be working with both sides of the aisle to protect agriculture and the thousands of jobs it provides in this state,” Norton said.