Ga. Dept. of Ag releases labor study By Jay Stone ___________________________________
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he Georgia Department of Agriculture’s study on agricultural labor presented to Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston on Jan. 3 recommends federal reform, expanded public education about H-2A and more research into the labor shortage issues Georgia farmers encountered in 2011 after the Georgia General Assembly passed House Bill 87, which mandated the study. “The results of this survey continue to make clear that the solution to labor issues facing Georgia producers rests in the hands of the federal government,” Black said. “Agriculture is our state’s number one
industry, yet the federal government is failing to provide our farmers with the skilled labor they need to harvest crops in a legal and efficient manner. It is time that our friends in Washington step up to the plate and provide us with a system that works.” The GDA surveyed more than 800 Georgia farmers from 138 counties regarding their access to laborers to plant and harvest crops. The survey asked for their assessment on the viability of H-2A, the federal government’s program dealing with migrant workers, and it sought to gauge whether and to what extent Georgia farms lost income due to shortage of labor. The study also explored whether a state guest worker program was viable. Accord-
Ga. DOL conducting survey of growers The Georgia Department of Labor is conducting a survey of the state’s fruit and vegetable growers to determine the prevailing and common agricultural practices in Georgia. The results of the survey, which has 22 questions for growers who use H-2A and 10 for those who do not, will be used by the U.S. Department of Labor to determine employee benefits and working conditions to be provided by Georgia agricultural employers who use the H-2A program. “It’s important that the Department of Labor get an accurate picture of the skill level required for farm work,” Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall said. “It’s possible that it could change the requirements for the type of labor that DOL sends to our farms.” Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler sent a letter to Georgia growers on Jan. 23 with a printed copy of the survey. Butler stressed the importance of participation in the survey by all Georgia fruit and vegetable growers, whether they use H-2A or not. The survey is voluntary and information will not be identifiable by individual grower. The survey can be filled out online at http://www.research.net/s/AGSurvey2012. The deadline to submit responses is Feb. 24. Georgia Fruit & Vegetable growers who did not receive a survey letter by mail should contact the Georgia DOL Agricultural Services Unit at 404-232-3500 to obtain a verification code so they can fill out the survey online or have a copy of the survey mailed to them. According to Butler’s letter, the results will be sent to the U.S. DOL by April, and the aggregate results will be made available on the Georgia DOL website by June. 12 / January-February 2012
ing to Black, Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens concluded that a state guest worker program would not be compliant with federal law after a review of federal law and inquiries to the U.S. Department of Justice. The report makes three main recommendations: • Only the federal government has the ability to reform existing agriculture guest worker programs to make them effective for farmers. Available options for farmers are too cumbersome, unreliable and bureaucratic to be practical in today’s modern economy. • More resources need to be implemented to educate the ag industry about the H-2A program. More than 40 percent of those who answered the survey indicated that H-2A was not applicable to them and another 20 percent indicated they were unfamiliar with H-2A. • More research needs to be conducted to fully understand Georgia agriculture labor. Among the respondents, 574 answered the financial loss questions. Of those, 26 percent indicated they lost income in 2011 due to a lack of available laborers. Those losses totaled about $10 million. Of the survey respondents who produce blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, squash, tobacco and watermelons, more than 50 percent reported income losses. Black said a side effect of HB 87 was to elevate the immigration debate at the federal level. The report provides a summary of proposed federal labor legislation including the Better Agricultural Resources Now (BARN) Act introduced by U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston and cosponsored by Reps. Sanford Bishop and Lynn Westmoreland, and the Helping Agriculture Receive Verifiable Employees Securely and Temporarily (HARVEST) Act introduced by Sen. Saxby Chambliss. The report also includes a review of new immigration laws and initiatives in other states, as well as Black’s testimony before Congress on migrant farm labor and the text of HB 87. Visit http://www.agr.georgia.gov/ AgLaborReport.pdf to read the report. Georgia Farm Bureau News