Thread: Farmers group focuses on need for legal workers

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Farmers group focuses on need for legal workers
By Joe Bauman
Deseret Morning News

Immigration law changes to ensure that farmers can hire as many legal workers as needed is one of the top issues for the American Farm Bureau Federation, the group's president told about 5,000 farmers and ranchers gathered in Salt Lake City on Sunday.

The federation launched its 88th annual convention that afternoon in the Salt Palace, drawing members and delegates from throughout the country. The session closes on Wednesday, after passing resolutions about its directions for the year.

Bob Stallman, a Texas farmer who is in his fourth term as president of the group, noted that 6.2 million families are members, representing both farming and ranching. In his speech, he outlined priorities for the coming year:

• Petitioning Congress for help because "the blizzards in cattle country have really hammered us."

• Working for favorable treatment for American agriculture "in the international arena." He called for a unified voice "so we can negotiate from a position of strength."

• The group needs a farm policy position "we all can support."

• Taking action against countries that discriminate against American agricultural products. "Korea has recently rejected U.S. beef" flown into that country, he said. The pretext was finding a bit of bone the size of half a grain of rice, he said.

Korea officials say they are ready to talk again, he said. "But talk is cheap," Stallman added. Everyone knows U.S. beef is safe. "It's time to play hardball" about that, he said.

• Countering what he termed animal rights extremists. An initiative passed in Arizona recently on the issues is "pure hogwash," he said. The petition drive was funded by a lot of activist money, Stallman said.
Such drives "are coming to a state near you," he said. He called their efforts "assaults" and added, "No more hogwash."

• Asking Congress to exempt agriculture from the Superfund law. "Superfund was never meant to apply to agriculture," he said.

When Congress passed the environmental cleanup legislation in 1980, he said, it "never meant farms and ranches to be regulated like toxic waste dumps."

• Encouraging the use of bio-fuels, crop products used as vehicle fuel. That would reduce dependence on foreign oil and increase demand for agricultural products, he said.

• Changing immigration law. "Our labor and immigration systems are broken and broken badly," Stallman said. He called for "a comprehensive bill that addresses" all aspects of the issue, including the need for legal workers.

Without that, he said, the country could face "losses of $5 billion annually." He cited the case of a pear grower who thought he was going to have a great harvest but found himself without enough pickers, so much of the fruit dropped to the ground and rotted. The grower lost thousands of dollars, he said.

The Farm Bureau supports a guest worker program, he said.

• A change in the approach to air quality that would allow farm dust. "Dust is a natural part of farming," Stallman said, and farmers will not tolerate a posse of dust deputies taking out their fence rows.

5,000 farmers

And what does the 80% of us out of 280 million think?

Dixie