Michigan State University

This Project Advances the 6TH Pillar of the Secretary’s Farmers First Policy Agenda: to Provide All Family Farms With Affordable and Reliable Labor. Many Farmers Struggle With Finding Adequate Numbers of Laborers and Rising Costs of Wages. the Information and Analyses Derived From This Project Are Expected to Inform Usda Policy Decisions That Will Benefit Farmers and Enable the Ag Labor Coordinator to Respond Quickly to Osec Questions About Ag Labor Issues. the Project Will Examine Several Facets of the U.s. Agricultural Labor Market Including: 1) Proposed Legislative Changes to the H-2A Visa Program That Could Expand Eligibility to Some Non-seasonal Farm Workers and Address Labor Shortages – This Is Particularly Critical for Ag Sectors Like Livestock and Dairy, Since Nonseasonal Ag Employers Are Currently Ineligible for the H-2A Visa Program; 2) Alternative Methodologies to Estimate the H-2A Wage Rate That Will Mitigate Rising Labor Costs Associated With the Program, Which Addresses Farm Employer Complaints About the Cost of the H-2A Program; and 3) the Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Farm Worker Labor Pools- Including Increasing Demand for H-2A Workers, Labor-saving Mechanization, and Imports as Enforcement Actions Shrink the Number of Unauthorized Workers. the Project Will Support Farm Labor Conferences in California and Michigan – Two Very Diverse Agricultural States – to Convene Local and National Experts From Government, Academia, and Industry to Discuss Current and Emerging Farm Labor Issues and Recommendations for Market and Policy Options. Results From the Project Include Internal Reports as Requested, and Peer-reviewed Journal Articles. Oce Will Exercise Authority Under 7 U.s.c 3318 (e) to Award This Noncompetitive Cooperative Agreement.