February 2019 - 28

MANAGEMENT
The deteriorating labor situation is
forcing growers to look at a variety
of options including automating
where possible.
Looking
for Labor?
Although you may have never considered using the H-2A guest
worker program for filling your labor needs, potential processing
changes may make it easier to implement.
BY DAVID KUACK
W
ith a national unemployment rate below
4 percent, it is becoming increasingly
difficult for specialty crop growers of
both edible and ornamental crops to find suitable
labor. As other industries, including health care,
manufacturing, construction, transportation
and warehousing add jobs, the pool of qualified
employees continues to dwindle.
In April 2017, President Trump sat down during a
Farmers Roundtable with a group of representatives
of the agriculture industry including farmers and U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The focus
of the meeting was to discuss the issues facing the
American agriculture community. The horticulture
industry was represented at the roundtable by Tom
Demaline, president at Willoway Nurseries in Avon,
Ohio. Demaline is the past chairman of the board
of AmericanHort.
During the meeting the president signed an
executive order establishing an Interagency Task
Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity. The
purpose of the task force, according to the president's
order, is " to promote economic development and
revitalization, job growth, infrastructure, innovation
and quality of life issues for rural America. "
Issues discussed during the roundtable included
labor, trade and regulatory relief.
" Labor was the number one issue discussed, " says
Craig Regelbrugge, senior vice president for industry
28 FEBRUARY 2019 GPNMAG.COM
advocacy and research at AmericanHort. " Labor was
the concern of all assembled and was talked about at
most length. The conversation really catalyzed what
became an effort within the administration involving
several agencies that have a stake to look at ways
in which they can streamline and improve the H-2A
agricultural worker program. "
Although Regelbrugge said there are more growers
in the horticulture industry who are not using H-2A at
this time, an increasing number are expressing more
interest in the program.
" It is cheaper to hire domestic workers who are
interested in showing up and doing the work, " he
says. " So growers don't necessarily get excited about
the H-2A program until they have to because they
simply can't find enough workers.
" Many people have been waiting on the sidelines,
not wanting to implement the H-2A program for
various reasons. They are now either actively
preparing to or have already initiated the process to
implement the program. As H-2A is rapidly becoming
more important, there is a regulatory reform
initiative that is underway. Whether that initiative is
implemented is still uncertain. "
STREAMLINING THE H-2A PROGRAM
The Departments of State, Agriculture, Labor
and Homeland Security have initiated a process
to modernize the H-2A guest worker program by
An increasing number of growers
are actively looking at or preparing
to implement the H-2A program
because they can't find enough
workers.
Streamlining efforts to improve the
H-2A program would probably not
benefit the horticulture industry
until the 2020 growing season.
http://www.GPNMAG.COM
February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of February 2019
