Legislation
Rural Voices criticizes Congress’ USDA funding blocking
Rural Voices USA, an organization that promotes the interests of rural Americans, is expressing opposition to Republican efforts delaying passage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture FY24 funding bill. Lawmakers must meet a Sept. 30... more »
Farmworker groups, others sue Florida over SB 1718 immigration bill
Farmworker and legal organizations have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida’s new anti-immigrant law, Senate Bill 1718. The groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Florida, Americans for Immigrant... more »
Bipartisan House Committee group focuses on labor, H-2A
The House Committee on Agriculture is taking a look at the H-2A temporary visa guest worker program and other issues to address the lack of labor in the fruit and vegetable industry. The committee formed... more »
Frey Farms’ Sarah Frey appointed to advise House Committee on Agriculture
Sarah Frey, founder and CEO of Illinois’ Frey Farms, has been appointed to serve as an Advisor to the chair of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. Frey will advise the U.S. House of Representatives’... more »
Rural Voices opposes GOP USDA cuts
Rural Voices USA, an organization that promotes the interests of rural Americans, is criticizing a House GOP proposal to cut USDA FY24 funding. The organization warns the zeroing-out of USDA rural funding would harm rural... more »
Ag Labor Review: NCAE busy with changes to H-2A, other programs
There are just a few things going on in the world of U.S. agricultural labor these days. Last Fall, the Department of Labor (DOL) at long-last published its version of the H-2A Program Rule. This... more »
Senators seek rollback of H-2A wages to 2022 rates
Farm groups are urging Congress to pass the Farm Operations Support Act, which would decrease the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) paid to H-2A temporary visa farm workers to 2022 levels. That would drop the... more »
Fertilizer group seeks ‘regulatory certainty’ from Congress
Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) testified Feb. 28 at the House Committee on Agriculture hearing, “Uncertainty, Inflation, Regulations: Challenges for American Agriculture.” “Fertilizer is an essential tool for farmers to... more »
Indoor farming seminar emphasizes sustainability
A web seminar on indoor farming systems will emphasize their value as sustainable food systems. The hour-long seminar, 2 p.m. Eastern, Sept. 8, is sponsored by SmartBrief, and features Rick Vanzura, CEO of Freight Farms,... more »
Western Growers applauds $4 billion for drought relief
The climate spending and tax bill, passed by the U.S. Senate on Sunday night, includes $4 billion in drought-relief funding. The funding, through the Interior Department’s Bureau of Reclamation, was one of the demands Sen.... more »
