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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, January 17, 2025
Agricultural entities have questioned the legal authority of two H-2A proposals that they say would dramatically alter the current employer-employee relationship and drive up costs.
An often-overlooked segment of the farmworker population in California is gaining increased recognition as community-based organizations and researchers have collected and shared their experiences of working through the pandemic.
The California Farm Bureau Federation plans to host a rally outside of the California state Capitol on 11 a.m. Thursday in opposition of Assembly Bill 616, a measure that will change the current process for farmworker union elections.
Many ag jobs got designated “essential” at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. A year later, masks and other safety precautions have become common in fields and packing houses. Food continues to move from the farm to the consumer. But impacts on the people making that happen have been significant.
An end is finally in sight in the wait for a new agriculture secretary. The Senate has scheduled action for Feb. 23 on Tom Vilsack's nomination to return for a second stint at the head of USDA.
Farms that use H-2A workers will be allowed to pay them significantly lower wages under a sweeping overhaul of the program’s wage regulations announced by the Labor Department on Monday.
The Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief plan Thursday evening even as leaders continue to negotiate a final package. Ahead of the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Democrats were still trading proposals with the White House but wouldn’t have a deal before today. ”We’re going back and forth,” she said.
A White House effort to lower the wages farms have to pay H-2A workers appears to have foundered amid concerns that it would put some regions at a disadvantage to others.
A recent State Department move is expected to speed approval of farmworkers seeking to enter the country, but observers of the process are still keeping a watchful eye on many parts of the H-2A program.
