American Dairy Coalition (ADC) is urging dairy farmers and agricultural employers to join them in contacting their members of Congress to become original cosponsors of the vital ag workforce reforms in the proposed Securing Agriculture Workforce Act (SAWA). This legislation could be introduced later this month by House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson.
“This issue affects every segment of agriculture, but for dairy farms it is especially critical because our labor needs are year-round,” said Moore. “Many farms have invested years in training experienced employees who are essential to animal care, herd health and daily operations. Maintaining that workforce while creating a workable future labor system is vital to food production.”
Moore asked Thompson what dairy farmers and ag employers can do now to help move the proposal forward.
Thompson has already circulated his letter to House colleagues. “I want an army of original co-sponsors,” he said, urging farmers, ranchers, and others to contact members of Congress and ask them to cosponsor before the bill is formally introduced.
The legislation would modernize agricultural workforce policy for the first time since 1986. “The timing is right because the border is under control,” Thompson said.
For dairy farmers, one of the most significant reforms would replace the current requirement that H-2A labor be limited to “seasonal” work with a broader “temporary” standard, allowing year-round ag sectors to participate more fully in the program.
Thompson said the bill would also expand eligible agricultural activities to include portions of meat harvesting and protein processing, recognizing the close relationship between ag production and food processing.
It would reform and bring certainty to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR), consistent with recent Trump administration action in this area.
The legislation would also modernize the application process through a one-stop online portal. “Anyone who has interacted with the H-2A program knows exactly what I mean when I say this program needs to be brought into the 21st century,” Thompson said.
Equally important to dairy farmers, he emphasized the proposal protects the experienced ag workforce already employed on farms and their employer while they go through the H-2A application process, including background checks and an interview.
ADC President Moore asked whether there were particular lawmakers ag groups should contact as support for the legislation grows.
The bottom line, said Thompson, is that outreach across party lines is vital because workforce reform affects every congressional district.
“All 435 members of Congress have people who like to eat,” he said.
Workforce shortages are not just an ag issue but a food security and national security issue. During more than 160 farm bill listening sessions he conducted across 43 states and one U.S. territory, workforce concerns consistently ranked among the top issues raised by producers and processors. Without a reliable workforce, farmers cannot plant, harvest, milk cows, care for livestock, process food or maintain the nation’s food supply.
This type of legislation comes through House Judiciary, but as Ag Chair and a senior member of Education and Workforce, Chairman Thompson formed the bipartisan Ag Labor Working Group in 2023 to work toward this moment, and he has actively engaged stakeholders in the process, with the support of then ranking member, the late David Scott.
ADC is encouraging dairy farmers and allied ag businesses to contact their own representatives in Congress in a bipartisan way and ask them to become original cosponsors of the Securing Agriculture Workforce Act.
For more information and assistance, dairy farmers are urged to contact ADC at 1.920.288.2322 or info@americandairycoalitioninc.com
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