For Immediate Release
October 24, 2007
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Senate Ag Committee holds hearing on agricultural workforce availability

Members seek to understand needs of Pennsylvania's number one industry

HARRISBURG – The Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and the Senate Labor and Industry Committee yesterday held a joint public hearing to gather testimony from a variety of individuals on agricultural workforce availability. 

The committees are chaired by state Senator Mike Brubaker (R-36) and state Senator John R. Gordner (R-27), respectively.  

The hearing was a direct result of input gathered during the Agriculture Committee's statewide listening sessions earlier this year. 

"During the listening sessions, we heard from producers across all sectors of the agriculture industry who are having difficulties finding and retaining the large numbers of workers necessary to make their businesses viable," Brubaker said. "This hearing gave us an opportunity to understand the breadth of the issues facing the industry and the ways in which we as a state can work to address them." 

State Department of Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff said his Department has also worked to identify the most important labor problems as perceived by farmers, as well as to identify challenges and benefits of agricultural employment and improve farm labor efficiency.  

"Agriculture is a labor intensive venture requiring many workers," Wolff said. "In order to compete with the salaries offered by other industries, we should help farmers to continue to increase their productive output per worker, thereby increasing profitability." One way to do this, he said, is to continue exploring new and innovative technologies that will increase productivity. 

Wolff also recommended working on agriculture's approach toward workforce development and educating people about career opportunities in agriculture. He shared two success stories about a new high school veterinary assistant program and the newly formed agribusiness program at Harrisburg Area Community College. 

Sandi Vito, Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development with the state Department of Labor and Industry, also praised the state's efforts to increase the labor force in the agriculture industries. "We have been able to implement a more flexible workforce development strategy that is truly responsive to the needs and demands of the ever-changing global economy," she said. 

Vito noted that the agriculture industry requires workers with different abilities than others and committed to working with the agriculture industry to better serve its needs.   

"There are some jobs that do not require high-skill labor, yet consist of very labor-intensive work," Vito said. "These types of jobs are hard to fill on a consistent basis with domestic employment, and often forces employers to look to migrant workers."  

Gary Swan, Governmental Relations and Communications Director for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, confirmed the difficulty farm-based employers have in finding the large numbers of workers they need. "Nowhere is the problem of availability, accessibility and reliability of a workforce more acute than in agriculture," Swan said. "Acquiring and retaining trained and reliable labor is one of the greatest headaches on the farm." 

Other testifiers agreed, sharing their perspectives as representatives of various sectors of the agriculture industry. For instance, the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association regularly surveys its members about their concerns, said Director of Government Relations Chad Forcey, and leading the list are workforce issues. 

"If we cannot find people to work on our farms many will sell out, breaking up families and selling farms that have been in families for generations," said Rod Hissong, owner of Mercer Vu Farms, Inc. 

Ernie Meily, human resources manager for The Clemens Corporations, Country View Family Farms and Hatfield Quality Meats, pointed out that the changing demographics of the workforce have created many opportunities for employers along with challenges which were not apparent five to ten years ago.   

Many testifiers talked about employee training and education as critical elements of addressing labor shortages in the agriculture industry. 

"We need to invest in training for all employees on specific skills and in bridging the cultural differences that exist between employees," Meily said, who supports current programs like WEDNet and Job Ready. "Education will also be key to turning the tide of the future workforce's perception of ag-related careers." 

"In addition to training and education, we must continue and even expand funding for technology research and development, because these will be vital to the future of agriculture in Pennsylvania," Swan pointed out. 

"Without an adequate labor force, production will definitely move to where workers can be found, most likely outside the United States," said James Angelucci, general manager of Phillips Mushroom Farms in Kennett Square. 

"We believe it is an issue of national security to be able to provide homegrown and processed food to the American people," Christian Herr, Executive Vice President of PennAg Industries, said. "To do that, we must have constructive rhetoric about the people who help raise and process that food." 

Mike Melhorn, owner and operator of MainJoy Unlimited, Inc., in Mount Joy, said he has heard suggestions that farmers hire inmates to meet their needs, but the responsibilities and risks of doing so are too numerous from his perspective. 

Hissong said that local employees available right now do not necessarily want the types of jobs dairies can provide. "It is less about the wages they can make than finding someone willing to do the labor," he said, adding that this is why many dairy farmers have turned to immigrant, mainly Hispanic, labor, which they have found to be reliable and hardworking.  

 "The service these workers do for the rest of society is immeasurable," said Chris Baugher, Vice President of Operations at the Adams County Nursery in Aspers, "and it must be done to provide the abundant and inexpensive food supply American consumers have come to expect." 

If agricultural workforce availability were limited, however, it would not be just the Pennsylvania producer that would suffer, but ultimately the consumer, pointed out Herr. 

"Many Pennsylvanians do not understand the impact of immigration on the economy or food supply," Hissong agreed. 

The testifiers emphasized that farm families share concerns about illegal immigration, and believe that immigration laws should absolutely be enforced. Recommendations were made for reforming the current guest worker program, as well as for federal approval of a pilot Employer Sponsorship Program. The suggested reforms would seek to streamline and simplify the guest worker process while also eliminating undocumented workers.  

"Without essential worker reform, both the economic and social impact on Pennsylvania as well as the nation would be devastating," added Melhorn. 

Many of those who testified acknowledged that immigration reform is a federal problem that needs to be dealt with at the federal level, although they encouraged state officials to work closely with their federal counterparts to ensure the concerns of the agriculture industry are adequately addressed. 

"There is not one easy answer to deal with the current labor shortage in ag-related fields and industry in general," Meily said. "What is needed is a combined effort between government, education and industry to deal with such a complex and far-reaching issue." 

"We have the opportunity here to do something proactive," Melhorn concurred, while Forcey added, "we need creative solutions, and new investments to deal with this problem." 

"Anything the Commonwealth can do to help insure a stable workforce will benefit all agricultural enterprises," Angelucci concluded. 

"This hearing illuminated several issues related to the problems of the agricultural industry in sustaining a reliable workforce," said Gordner.  "I look forward to working with the Department of Labor and Industry and the Department of Agriculture as we attempt to address these issues." 

"We are going to look at everyone's testimony and every recommendation we received in this hearing," Brubaker said. "This will be a foundation for comprehensive discussions as we work to address this critical issue for our agriculture industry." 

Contact:

Kristin Crawford, Executive Director
717-787-4420