KENT COUNTY, Mich. — Farmers in Kent County say reform is needed for the federal program that allows them to hire temporary workers, referred to as H-2A, and believe a newly proposed bill could be a step in the right direction.
In June, the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA) was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. If passed, the bill would allow temporary workers to stay on the job for up to 350 days, thus giving dairy, poultry, livestock and other year-round operations greater access to the H-2A program. The bill would also reduce or cut certain fees related to the program and put limits on the year-to-year fluctuations of wages, protecting farmers from unexpectedly high labor costs.
"As Americans get further and further away from the farm, it's really an important program that sustains our farmers," Nancy Nyquist, a public policy specialist for the Michigan Farm Bureau, said about H-2A. "We couldn't do what we do, and we wouldn't have the food that we have without these [temporary] workers."
According to Nyquist, the H-2A program hasn't seen significant legislative change in forty years. While past attempts at reform have been made, none have been signed into law. This most recent bill, she says, is "much more encompassing."
"I am hopeful this legislation will put some predictability back in the business," Nyquist said.
At Riveridge Produce Marketing in Sparta Township, around 12,000 acres of apples and cherries are annually picked by temporary workers.
"There's no domestic labor force willing to pick apples and cherries, day-in and day-out, seven days a week, 12-hour days," Riveridge Vice President of Agriculture Justin Finkler said. "We would never get this crop harvested if we counted on that, regardless of the wage we could pay."
Finkler says at least nine out of every ten of his employees are temporary workers hired through the H-2A program, and believes the potential wage stability offered by SAWA would "help out huge."
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At Heffron Farms in Grattan Township, it's a similar story.
"We can't live without them," farmer Denny Heffron said about temporary workers. "They're the ones that pick the apples, they're the ones that pick the pickles, pick the rocks. They do all these things, and without them we'd be in trouble."
Heffron says reform for the H-2A program is "badly needed" and considers the bill a "good start in the right direction."
"Agriculture is really glad to see these changes coming," he said. "There are other areas where there needs to be changes, too but this is very welcomed."
