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Farm Labor

WHEREAS
, New Jersey agriculture is diverse, spanning 10 major sectors, and depends upon the vitality of a variety of agricultural products and enterprises to make the overall industry a success; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey farms’ proximity to population centers brings with it unique challenges not faced in those states where significantly lower population densities make it less likely that farmers will confront noise, odor and other complaints from neighboring residents; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey’s diversified economy and various industries make it more of a challenge for farm operators to find, train and retain adequate labor; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey’s continuous dedication to protecting and improving the environment has created the need for farmers to be ever-mindful of the need to be stewards of their land, water and other natural resources; and

WHEREAS, for these reasons, New Jersey farmers face unique challenges in their efforts to keep their farm operations viable and thriving, creating the need to rely on certain government programs to help them meet these challenges; and 

 WHEREAS, the State of New Jersey can cover the costs of operating these essential government programs only with the assistance of federal funding; and

WHEREAS, the federal five-year Farm Bill, still pending a renewal that was originally set for 2012, contains within it the spending priorities for the nation’s agricultural industry; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey farms’ needs from federal programs are significantly different from those of farms in many regions of the country; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey’s diverse agriculture, typified by smaller farms producing a variety of crops, benefits from a strong emphasis on Specialty Crops Grants designed to increase consumer awareness about fresh produce, improve access to foreign markets, ensure food safety, strengthen research efforts, enhance conservation programs and encourage investment and efficiency; and

 WHEREAS, fruit, vegetable and tree nut production in the United States accounts for $40 billion in farmgate value, and when combined with nursery and greenhouse production, accounts for more than 50 percent of total farm cash receipts; and

WHEREAS, a broad array of fruit and vegetable trade associations representing United States growers and shippers are continuing to work on achieving mutual objectives for the Farm Bill and assuring a common platform across regions, commodities, and other interests; and

WHEREAS, the fruit and vegetable industry is a critical and growing component of United States agriculture, deserving of full and equal consideration as is provided to other sectors in the Farm Bill; and

WHEREAS, the fruit and vegetable industry would not be well served by direct payment to growers but instead by building the long-term competitiveness and sustainability of fruit and vegetable production in the United States; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey works closely with the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service to support a number of feeding programs that bring nutritious products to children, the elderly and those in need; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey is committed to bringing more of the fruits and vegetables produced by its farmers into these programs and ensuring that the offerings are of the highest practicable nutritional value; and

WHEREAS, funding targeted for these feeding programs can be stretched by ensuring, whenever possible, that products be bought locally first, regionally second and nationally and internationally as a last resort, thereby cutting the associated transportation costs, especially in times of rising fuel prices; and

WHEREAS, both federal nutrition programs and those more traditionally associated with the Farm Bill that directly impact the farmer receive more broad-based support from Representatives and Senators when they are considered as a whole package instead of being separated into individual pieces, and this linkage makes more sense because federal lawmakers can better grasp how each impacts and enhances the other when they are presented as a package: and

WHEREAS, New Jersey also is home to numerous grain and forage producers who receive a much needed benefit from the Farm Bill’s commodities funding; and

 WHEREAS, grain and forage producers strongly support a minimum safety net for grain producers throughout New Jersey; and

WHEREAS, from the planting and harvesting of grains, fruits and vegetables, to the daily care of plants and animals, agriculture is a labor-intensive industry; and while most farms in New Jersey are family-owned and operated, many of them need to hire additional labor in order to operate successfully; and

 WHEREAS, in order to ensure the future of its agriculture, New Jersey must not only preserve its farmland, but also address the needs of its farm workforce; and

 WHEREAS, ensuring the availability of an adequate, legal farm labor workforce must be addressed on both the state and federal level; and the federal government needs to create a counterfeit-resistant identification system, needs to establish an earned adjustment of status program, and needs to reform the current practices for obtaining temporary agricultural worker visas; and

WHEREAS, Congress has thus far failed to address immigration reform in a comprehensive manner that would establish a clear path to legal status and provide for an adequate seasonal and year-round workforce through guest worker programs and to be relied upon by agriculture and related industries which cannot attract enough current United States citizens to fill their labor needs, both seasonal and full-time year-round; and

 WHEREAS, instead, Congress has considered legislation mandating that employers use an error-prone database (E-Verify) to check the legal status of prospective employees, and that those employers be held legally responsible for decisions that may result in workers of non-legal status being hired; and

 WHEREAS, the United States Senate has passed S.714, a bi-partisan immigration reform bill which includes a historic compromise addressing the concerns of both agricultural management and agricultural labor, but that measure has not yet passed in the House of Representatives; and

 WHEREAS, a Farm Credit analysis of the impacts of an E-Verify-type system being implemented without first establishing an adequate agricultural guest worker program shows severe impact to farm operations, including the likelihood of farmers either switching to non-labor-intensive crops or going out of business; and

 WHEREAS, labor supply and training are key for sustaining and growing the agricultural industry in New Jersey, and programs that support worker training, health and safety, and address issues such as housing, are and will continue to be part of the Department’s outreach and education efforts; and

 WHEREAS, the New Jersey Departments of Agriculture and Labor & Workforce Development are working jointly to revise New Jersey’s agricultural-labor survey in order to better position New Jersey farmers to hire guest workers from the current federal H2A program and/or other guest-worker programs developed on the federal level; and

 WHEREAS, New Jersey farmers have reported encountering difficulty in anticipating certain aspects of state-level farm-labor regulations, such as those governing how much the farmer can charge workers for items such as sodas or snacks, because there are no set rules regarding those charges, and the farmers can wind up being directed by NJDL&WD to write individual checks to hundreds or thousands of workers, some of whom may no longer even be present at the farm, to reimburse them for the difference between what they paid and what NJDL&WD eventually determined was appropriate to be charged.

 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the delegates to the 99h State Agricultural Convention, assembled in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on February 5-6, 2014, support the efforts of the Department to ensure a stable source of well-trained and legal farm workers, and that we support efforts to ensure the proper training and education of the farm work force, especially as it relates to worker health and safety.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the immediate adoption and implementation of federal legislation which reforms the policies and procedures for temporary agricultural worker visas, creates counterfeit-resistant identification to ensure the availability and supply of farm labor, both seasonal and year-round, and that we urge the New Jersey Congressional Delegation to support these efforts in both the House and Senate.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we strongly urge federal lawmakers and policy directors to delay the implementation of any E-Verify or other employer-driven legal status verification system until after the passage and implementation of an agricultural guest worker program that will ensure sufficient labor for America’s farmers.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the Department, New Jersey Farm Bureau and New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station to work cooperatively with the Governor and the Legislature to develop an agricultural education program to help farmers navigate through complex federal guest-worker programs.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the use of USDA Farm Labor Housing Programs to address the housing requirements needed to provide decent, safe and sanitary living conditions for the agricultural workforce.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we request that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) streamline the process for obtaining temporary visas for a farm-worker verification process and establish a streamlined guest worker certification process for agricultural workers, including the farm-labor workforce that may have worked on our farm operations for a number of years but did not have, in the past, a legal status.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support similar efforts to benefit the labor availability of year-round hiring.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we support the joint effort of the New Jersey Departments of Agriculture and Labor & Workforce Development to revise the state’s agricultural-labor survey in order to make guest workers more obtainable by New Jersey farms, and urge the United States Department of Labor to approve the revised survey so that it can be implemented as soon as possible in New Jersey.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we direct the Department to work with all appropriate agricultural industry groups in the state to conduct outreach and education on how any federally approved change to the New Jersey farm labor survey will help them to better obtain labor.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development to clarify rules regarding the rates farmers can charge workers for items such as sodas, snacks or meals, so that farmers can determine ahead of time what appropriate charges will be for that season.

 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge NJDL&WD to hold regular educational sessions with farmers prior to each growing season to ensure farmers understand the regulations under which they must operate.