NTF and Sen. Durbin: Ag worker shortage must be addressed

National Turkey Federation (NTF) Vice Chaiman Ron Kardel told the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry the meat and poultry industry relies on migrant workers, but the current immigration system has faults and needs to be fixed.

Roy Graber Headshot
National Turkey Federation Vice Chairman Ron Kardel, left, testifies before the U.S. Senate agriculture committee on September 25. Others to provide testimony included, from left, Jayson Lusk, Perdue University; Burton Pfliger, American Sheep Industry Association; and Trent Thiele, Iowa Pork Producers Association. (National Turkey Federation)
National Turkey Federation Vice Chairman Ron Kardel, left, testifies before the U.S. Senate agriculture committee on September 25. Others to provide testimony included, from left, Jayson Lusk, Perdue University; Burton Pfliger, American Sheep Industry Association; and Trent Thiele, Iowa Pork Producers Association. (National Turkey Federation)

National Turkey Federation (NTF) Vice Chaiman Ron Kardel told the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry the meat and poultry industry relies on migrant workers, but the current immigration system has faults and needs to be fixed.

That message was not lost on at least one committee member. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, says it is time for an “honest conversation” about the matter.

Kardel, who is also a contract grower for West Liberty Foods, was one of the witnesses to testify at the agriculture committee’s “Perspectives on the Livestock and Poultry Sectors” hearing on September 25.

“The turkey industry, like the rest of the animal agriculture community, supports immigration reform that includes policies and provisions that will maximize benefits to the industry and ensure a strong and durable immigration system that meets the needs of the U.S. economy. The current system is broken, and we must find a way to modernize it for all involved,” Kardel said in prepared testimony.

Most turkey plants are located in rural, low-unemployment areas, he added, which means the turkey companies need to recruit from outside of the local workforce. In many cases, this means hiring immigrant workers.

‘Honest conversation’ about immigration needed

Durbin referenced the August 7 raids at Mississippi poultry plants and agrifood facilities , in which 680 people were detained. He noted that immigration-related raids happen “with frequency.”

“It reflects a reality that a couple of you have alluded to in your testimony,” Durbin said. “When you go to meat and poultry processing plants in Illinois or anywhere across the United States, you will find a lot of immigrant workers. Many of them are undocumented. They take these jobs because they are hot, dirty, sometimes dangerous and the local folks don’t want them.”

He said he knows of the rigors of such jobs, because he worked at a pork processing plant during the summer breaks when he was a college student.

Durbin mentioned constituents who operate dairies and orchards, who have also expressed worries that they could go out of business without migrant workers. Such situations demand a serious dialogue about immigration reform, Durbin said.

“We’ve got to have an honest conversation about immigration here. The notion that this immigration issue is being driven on one side only by the liberals and the faith community ignores the reality. Immigrant labor, migrant labor, is critical for agriculture in America. It’s critical for each one of you,” Durbin told the witnesses, which in addition to Kardel included representatives from the beef, pork and sheep industries.

Durbin urged the witnesses to “step up their game,” when it comes to pushing for serious talks about immigration reform.

Not quite a perfect marriage

Kardel said it is frustrating that the turkey industry, and other industries, need workers and people from other countries want to come to the United States to work.

“We have businesses in the United States that need employees and we have people who want to come here, and we don’t get it accomplished. It should be a perfect marriage and it doesn’t happen,” Kardel said. “What’s needed is a streamlined visa approval – one that works.”

Existing guestworker programs target only seasonal, on-farm labor and non-agricultural manufacturing, Kardel pointed out, but the turkey industry needs workers in its plants year-round.

“As mentioned earlier, the meat and poultry industry has the opportunity to grow and provide additional quality jobs, particularly if export markets can be improved, but we must have workers available to help meet new demands. Otherwise, it will be virtually impossible to capitalize on opportunities when the doors of new export markets are pushed further open. NTF members need better access to a pool of legal, general labor immigrant workers, and we support a visa program that addresses the needs of the meat and poultry processing industries,” he said.

Automation takes time

Kardel said when some people hear about the worker shortage in poultry processing plants, he is often asked, “Why don’t you automate?”

He said automation would alleviate the problem, but not immediately.

“We’re doing it [automating], but we need people now,” said Kardel. The automation takes time and it’s expensive. We need people now, and there’s people that want to come here.”

Page 1 of 33
Next Page