BOISE, Idaho — Today the American Business Immigration Coalitionhosted a round table to speak regarding agriculture labor reform.
"It's incredibly difficult to come up with the labor that we need to provide the food that we need for American citizens," said Shay Myers, CEO of Owayee Produce.
Myers says the majority of his employees are immigrants, and an agriculture reform is critical for his farm.
That's why he attended the ABIC Roundtable regarding the importance of agricultural labor reform – in the face of labor shortages Idaho is facing.
During the round table, Myers discussed the possibility of selling his farm due to the inability to properly operate due to being short-staffed.
"The variable seems to change every year; we can't make decisions or business decisions about the future because what was the standard in 2022 and not what was in 21, is drastically different than 2022," said Shay Myers.
In 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives was able to pass the farm workforce modernization act for the second time. But it failed to pass in the Senate.
The state of Idaho has nearly 25,000 farms and ranches across 11.8 million acres of land that produce more than 185 different commodities, making it critical for farms to find employees to prevent food insecurity.
"As the congressman said, there is no perfect bill, but we can't let perfect be the enemy of the good," said Enrique Sanchez, Intermountain State Director for the American Business Immigration Coalition.
If the agriculture industry continues to struggle with hiring employees, it could ultimately cause farms to shut down, and the concern is that it could cause grocery prices to keep rising.
