Greetings, Flathead Valley! I’m Maggie Dresser, here to tell you about my afternoon at the Montana Farm Bureau Federation conference at the Kalispell Hilton Garden Inn on Tuesday where I heard from agriculture economists and labor industry experts and I shot the breeze with producers who traveled from across the state.

I’ve sat in the Hilton Garden Inn ballroom audience for a variety of chamber of commerce-related presentations and networking opportunities over the years, but the hot pink pantsuits and ties were this time replaced with Wranglers and pearl snaps. Instead of the usual conversations about the real estate market, the southwest Montana ranchers sitting at my table matter-of-factly compared the lush Flathead Valley landscape to Ireland, lamenting about how you “couldn’t buy a raindrop” this spring in Dillon. Sadly, I missed the Blue Jean Ball that was held in the ballroom later that night.

During American Farm Bureau Federation Chief Economist Dr. Kevin Newton’s presentation about farmers experiencing historic inflation and low commodity prices, I also learned that the average American eats 6 pounds of avocados annually per person compared to .2 pounds a little over a decade ago. As a millennial, I can’t help but feel personally responsible for this statistic. We were stress-eating this delicious product of Mexico during the aftermath of the Great Recession – OK.

After learning some other staggering statistics about how American grain farmers have experienced more than $40 billion in uncovered losses since 2018, I attended a committee meeting to learn about the ag labor shortage.

Montana Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) Commissioner Sarah Swanson presented the department’s latest efforts to bolster the labor force as the industry faces a chronic workforce shortage and generational producers struggle to find successors for their farms.

Swanson said the DLI is adding agriculture to its registered apprentice program to teach the next generation about the industry and keep young adults in their rural communities.

“We can also utilize registered apprenticeships in our rural and remote communities, and if we can do it in our remote communities, we can do it on your farm,” Swanson said. “I know that succession probably keeps most of you up at night. How can we train the next generation if you didn’t raise them yourselves? The answer is registered apprenticeship.”

With a registered apprenticeship, an agreement between the two parties will provide the farmer with labor and a refundable tax credit while the apprentice gains a skilled training opportunity while earning a wage for a minimum of 2,100 hours.

“All we’re looking for is volunteers,” Swanson said. “Who wants to go first and what is your most immediate need? If you’re retiring and you don’t have a succession plan but there’s a young couple that’s sure interested in learning your operation – we can help you develop an apprenticeship that is staggered and manageable.”

Swanson also guided committee members through steps to fast-track the H-2A visa program, which allows U.S. employers to hire foreign nationals to fill temporary or seasonal agriculture jobs.

Under the federally managed and “heavily audited” program, things like documentation and housing requirements add barriers for farmers and workers in the 53 of 56 Montana counties who use the program.

With more than 3,200 H-2A visa workers currently in Montana, there is a waitlist of 2,800 producers who have applied and are awaiting authorization for foreign labor.

To qualify for the program, farmers must first prove they attempted to fill that role with an American by providing all documentation, which most applicants didn’t realize they needed.

“So when you come to us – you’re desperate and we can’t give you authorization for a worker until we back up and do recruitment again and document your efforts,” Swanson.

Swanson said strict U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards provide another barrier to the H-2A program, which requires workers to have their own bedroom and a door in a unit that must undergo an inspection.

Committee members had mixed opinions about the H-2A program, with some farmers preferring American laborers who are committed to staying in their communities and supporting the local economy while others said the foreign workers were more dependable and reliably pass drug tests.

“We have six of them,” one producer said. “You say they don’t spend money – they have to buy their own groceries, they put gas in their vehicle – they do spend money here. Maybe it’s not a majority of their money, but I have people start with us that are domestic and they don’t even last till noon. I can’t have people coming and going – at least I get loyalty from these H-2A workers.”

Here’s the rest of the Daily Roundup.