Tag Archives: georgia fruit and vegetable growers association

Georgia Ag Labor Forum Pushes for H-2A Reform as Fruit and Vegetable Growers Reach a Breaking Point

Posted on by

Tifton, GA |

The Georgia Ag Labor Forum brought together growers, federal agencies, and agricultural organizations to work through the complexities of the H-2A guest worker program — a program that has become a lifeline for Georgia’s fresh fruit and vegetable industry, but one that many producers say is long overdue for reform.

“H-2A has become such a critical part of our industry. Forty to fifty percent of our costs are normally in labor when we’re talking about fresh fruits and vegetables,” said Chris Butts, Executive Vice President of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association. “Across the industry, more and more of our growers are having to utilize the H-2A program. This conference brings everybody together — from the producer side, but also from the regulatory and governmental side — and we all get in the room and talk through it. It is a very complicated and complex program, but the forum offers the opportunity for growers and other organizations to hear from the folks administering these programs and learn how we can stay on the right side of compliance.”

NOT A CHOICE — A NECESSITY

The reliance on guest worker programs isn’t by preference. Butts says the domestic workforce simply isn’t applying for farm labor jobs, leaving growers with no viable alternative.

“When we try to recruit domestic workers to come do fruit and vegetable work on the farm, we don’t get people applying for those jobs. It’s hot, it’s dirty, it’s bending over, it’s lifting heavy weight over and over again — and we just don’t have domestic workers that apply,” Butts said. “The H-2A program is critical. Without it, there would not be fruit and vegetable production here in the state of Georgia.”

A PROGRAM IN NEED OF REFORM

Critical as H-2A is, it’s anything but simple to navigate. A worker going through the program can come into contact with up to seven different federal agencies — and the rules have shifted with each administration, creating a level of unpredictability that makes long-term planning nearly impossible for producers.

Butts says a new piece of legislation known as the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act represents the best opportunity in a generation to change that.

“We’re twenty-five years since we’ve had any kind of meaningful reform to ag labor. This bill represents the best chance the industry has had in a long time to bring forth some of that meaningful reform,” Butts said. “It’s really important that the industry remains together and speaks with one voice. This is a really important bill from the standpoint of making the program easier to use, more affordable to use, and frankly, more predictable — so that a grower can know and predict what his labor costs may be in the next two to three years without seeing huge swings in wages one way or the other. It’s not fair to the worker and it’s not fair to the employer. We need some stability there.”

REFORM REQUIRES FARMER VOICES

But stability and reform will only come if farmers are willing to engage in the process — and that, according to one national agricultural labor leader, is where the industry has historically fallen short.

“The future of H-2A and the future of agriculture’s success is really in the hands of the audience,” said John Hollay, President and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers. “The folks up on the stage are trying to do what they can, but it’s really going to take different tactics and different kinds of engagement from the actual farmer. One of the things we struggle with in agriculture is that Americans trust farmers more than anyone — polls continue to put that out there — but farmers often aren’t willing to speak out and utilize the trust they’ve earned. Reform isn’t going to be easy, but if we all work together, we can actually get it done.”

For Georgia’s fruit and vegetable growers, the message from Tifton was clear: the program they depend on needs fixing, the legislation to fix it exists, and the window to act on it is now.

By: John Holcomb

Georgia Producers Tackle Labor Uncertainty at Annual Ag Forum

Posted on by

Tifton, GA |

For Georgia farmers, securing a reliable workforce is vital to a successful harvest—especially when it comes to fresh produce and specialty crops. That’s why many of them gathered in Tifton for the annual Agricultural Labor Relations Forum, an event aimed at keeping producers up-to-date on the latest changes to the country’s guest worker programs.

Beth Oleson, Director of Education for the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, says the forum continues to build momentum and foster productive dialogue between growers and regulatory agencies.

“I feel like we actually have gained some momentum. We’ve gained some, some real positive strides with our regulatory agencies. They’re here, they come every year, and they’re actually excited to be here. They’re listening to us. Changes are happening because our growers, our packers, our shippers, our processors are present and they’re having conversations. That’s what this forum is all about,” said Oleson.

According to Will Bentley, President of the Georgia Agribusiness Council, the H-2A guest worker program is essential to Georgia agriculture—especially since the domestic labor force is no longer a viable option for many growers.

“Georgia farmers are, you know, a top user of H-2A labor, typically between number one and number two, state of using the program in the country. So, I mean, it’s obviously important to our industry, especially on the fresh produce side and specialty crops and dairy and green industry and other things like that. So, it’s extremely important to us.”

“Unfortunately, the domestic labor force has shrunk to the point where it’s not really a reliable source of labor for picking crops or working in the fields. It’s become harder, and finding that labor has been more of a challenge. So really, having a dependable labor force through the H-2A program is really what makes Georgia agriculture successful in our ability to be diverse in the crops that we grow here in the state that we just simply couldn’t do if we weren’t able to have a dependable labor force.”

However, that reliance on guest labor has brought added uncertainty—especially as changes to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) continue to strain farm budgets.

“Ten, twenty, thirty percent increases on your labor rate—especially when those decisions aren’t rolled out until kind of late winter when farmers are already making planting decisions, already making hiring decisions—and then they get an increase in their adverse wage rate that they’re required to pay. That’s been the biggest challenge is just offsetting that when farmers can’t just simply raise their prices,” Bentley explained. “We’re price takers. So, the commodity is kind of set on the market for what that’s going to go for a farmer. But then they get a huge increase on the labor side—not to mention the increases on inputs, whether it’s equipment or fertilizer or chemical. So, it’s just really been a challenge on the cost side for our farmers. And that’s really been the biggest obstacle for them being successful.”

Despite the challenges, organizers and attendees of the forum remain hopeful that continued education, conversation, and collaboration can help move the industry forward—ensuring that growers have the tools and labor they need to keep Georgia agriculture thriving.

By: John Holcomb

Growers Showcase Fruits and Vegetables in Savannah

Posted on by

Savannah, GA |

Georgia is home to the world-famous Vidalia onion, is one of the top blueberry producers and is, of course, known as the Peach State. So, with and fruits and vegetables being such big business, keeping up to date on the constantly evolving industry is a tall task and the main goal of the annual Southeast Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah.

“The principles of growing fruits and vegetables have been established since time. But the regulatory policies and science and technology that is needed to run a successful and profitable fruit and vegetable industry is ever changing. So, being able to come to a conference as a collaborative, fresh produce industry and learn together, fight together, advance the science together is the only way we are going to be able to continue to have a bright future in the southeast,” says Beth Oleson, Director of Food Safety and Education for the G.F.V.G.A.

While each commodity has their own set of unique challenges, there are certain issues that are far reaching.

“Fruit and vegetable growers continue to be challenged by two primary issues. One is labor and the ability to have a stable and documented labor force. The second would be trade issues. We continue to see a surge in imports coming primarily from Mexico and other South American countries that are coming in often at or below our cost of production. So, we’ve got to find a way to level that playing field for American growers,” says Chris Butts, Executive Director of the G.F.V.G.A.

That means producers must adapt and grow with the times, which makes the more than one hundred informational sessions invaluable.

“How can I move from a large scale commercial production into large scale organic production? We’re talking through different ways to integrate robotics and precision agriculture just to make things more streamline. Then we’re also talking through fumigation, pesticide updates, regulatory updates. So we’re covering from A to Z, so we have it going on,” says Oleson

That applies for the trade show as well, where a record number of visitors got an up-close look at the latest technology that shapes the industry.

“We kind of call it seed to shelf, everything from supplies for growers to grow their crops to machines for harvesting, packaging, and mechanization to the chemicals and other inputs that we provide. It’s really a one stop shop for growers to come and form new relationships but also strengthen relationships they have with existing suppliers and exhibitors,” says Butts.

Having the right information and relationships is more important than ever, especially during this trying time.

“Our trends right now are how can we do more with less. We continue to have record input costs and inflation, so growers are looking to sharpen their pencil and sharpen their tools so to speak, so that they can increase yields, hopefully lower some of those input costs and have a better bottom line at the end of the day,” says Butts.

By: Damon Jones