• Ensure flexibility allowing guest workers to access and work in all types of agriculture, not just those occupations limited to seasonality.
• A market-based approach to wages.
• Ability to meet expanding labor needs without arbitrary limits.
• Amend the H-2A and H-2B programs to include year-round workers for all agricultural and forestry industries.
Te current system is broken. We need to modernize the H-2A process to reflect the current needs of the agriculture industry; for example, access to a year-round workforce. Reforming the H-2A program is a key to curb rising prices and maintain our global competitiveness. America’s farmers need assurance of a future workforce with both a flexible and efficient visa program and means of retaining current workers. Te labor shortage cannot be remedied without legislation.
NASDA’S Additional Workforce Issue Requests
Connections to STEM Careers: NASDA supports the expansion of school-based agricultural education curricula that aligns with the Agricultural, Food and Natural Resource content standards.
Work Based Training and Certifications: NASDA encourages the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education to work with NASDA and the agriculture industry at large to expand work-based training, including apprenticeships and micro credentials that address skilled and unskilled labor shortages.
Agency Collaboration: NASDA encourages the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Labor, and Education to collaborate by creating standards, platforms, and resources that address workforce needs.
Youth Leadership and Community Development: NASDA supports growth in community and youth development that encourages awareness and understanding of the agriculture, food, and natural resources industries and their potential career opportunities. Organizations such as 4-H, the National FFA Organization, Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS) and Agriculture Future of America are recognized internationally and provide the
TPI Turf News March/April 2023
U.S. with key strategic advantages relative to other countries in developing tomorrow’s workforce.
Redefine Agricultural Employment: To better understand the breadth, depth, and scope of the agriculture, food, and natural resource sectors through data analysis and to promote employment within the sector, NASDA seeks to redefine “agricultural employment” under the Fair Labor Standards Act and “agricultural labor” under the Internal Revenue Code. A new definition will better reflect agriculture as a mechanized and advancing industry while expanding its statistical impacts.
To learn more about each of the 2023 policy priories and all NASDA’s policy work, visit
NASDA.org/policy.
Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News.
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