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NPPC Asks Congress to Address Agricultural Labor Shortage

Dan Coronavirus, Labor and Immigration, Pork

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pork industry

With a scheduled vote in the U.S. House set for Monday, the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is calling on Congress to include in a budget reconciliation bill language to expand the existing H-2A visa to year-round agricultural workers.

Like many sectors of the economy, the U.S. pork industry is faced with a severe labor shortage. But even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry was having trouble filling jobs, a situation generally attributable to urbanization and an aging rural population. The tight labor market prompted the pork sector to rely on foreign-born workers.

“The U.S. pork industry is highly dependent on foreign-born workers, but current visa programs don’t provide access to enough workers to meet our labor needs on farms and in packing plants,” said NPPC President Jen Sorenson. “We need a dedicated, year-round workforce. If the labor shortage is not addressed, it could lead to farms and plants shutting down, causing serious financial harm to the communities in which they operate.”

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NPPC is urging congressional lawmakers to open the current H-2A temporary and seasonal worker visa program to year-round labor, without a limit on the annual number of visas, and to provide legal status for agricultural workers already in the country. Legislation approved earlier this year by the House would expand the H-2A program to year-round workers but cap the number of visas that can be issued each year.

For more information, visit nppc.org/issues/issue/year-round-pork-needs-year-round-workers/.