Bob Stuart: growers need relief

Comment from Bob Stuart of Stuart Fruit Farm in Idaho the federal docket on the rollback of H-2A reforms:


This country must be able to produce the food that the consumers need. Each year the USA loses more farms and more fruit and produce is imported. If you roll back the changes to the h2-a system, more farms will go out of business and more food will be imported from Chile,China ect..Why is h2a the only visa program that has a wage that is inflated each by the fed gov't? why is the AWER made by USDA and not The bureau of labor statistics like other visa programs? It is not 1970; farms today compete in a global market and profit margins-if there are any profits- are razor thin. If h2-a is made too expensive to use, fruit farmers will have no alternative but to close the gates of the farm. americans stopped working in farm jobs 30 years ago. someone laidoff by IBM will not want to replace a high tech job with a farm labor position. Keep the New BLS wage, it is more fair for workers. A worker with higher skills gets paid more than a worker with limited skills.how is this not fair?