The House Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment that extends the H-2A guest worker visa program to all of agriculture.
Introduced by Congressman Dan Newhouse of Washington, the amendment was approved as part of the Fiscal Year 2018 Homeland Security Appropriations Act and provides dairy, livestock and other agricultural sectors access to the program.
The H-2A program would remain a temporary source of ag labor and there are still time limits for how long workers can stay in the U.S.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, National Milk Producers Federation and American Dairy Coalition are among several ag groups supporting the measure.
Source: brownfieldagnews.com