Farmhand Community News #8

What I'm reading about in ag and why it matters

Hi all!

I’m back after a bit of a hiatus from posting these biweekly newsletters. Expect me to stick to my biweekly schedule moving forward, but, with potentially a bit less perfectionism, and with long form posts randomly sprinkled between. Trump is president, again, and his administration is doing and saying a lot, much of which has serious implications for ag and the people who do the work therein. Meanwhile, farmers and farmworkers are working and agtech founders are building, as per usual.

1. Opinion | How Trump’s Deportation Plans Could Blow Up the Food System and Increase Migrant Labor

   TL;DR: FERN & Politico collaborated to drop this thought-provoking op-ed wherein they basically say 1) Our agrifood systems rely disproportionatly on immigrant labor (true); 2) Trump’s administration seems hell bent on deporting them (true); and 3) as a consequence, H2A reliance will expand, creating a W for farmers and an L for workers (debatable…)

   My take: I have a lot of thoughts about this one. The only viable way to produce fruits and vegetables at scale today is with a lot of humans. Robots can help in the future, but, not very much short term - let’s just say the next 4 years, Trump’s presidency. So yeah, I agree conceptually that the only alternative to the current sorta-sometimes-usually-if-you-squint legalish workforce system is an alternative, probably more problematic illegal labor system. But that’s not what H-2A (or H-2B) is.
   This article says “..while the food industry may like the H-2 program..” - stop right there. H-2A labor costs more than domestic labor, even before you factor in requisite housing and transportation costs. It’s a pain to recruit and hire H-2A employees. It’s expensive and difficult to comply with (one reason I love what Croft is building) and there aren’t enough available spots. No one likes the H-2A program. H-2A is better than not having a pathway for temporary workers to relatively safely legally work in this country. Could H-2A be designed in a way that better protects workers? Absolutely! And, it could also be designed in a way that better serves farmers.
   And that’s the real issue I take with this article; these journalists missed an opportunity to find common ground, choosing instead to villainize farm operators and food processors. Are there horrific cases of human trafficing? Inhuman conditions? Wage theft? Yes, yes and yes. Is that the norm? No, it isn’t. What’s more, the norm in the alternatives to H-2A doesn’t look very different. Farmers are not happy with H-2A. There aren’t enough slots right now, and, while it’s possible, it’s improbable that the Trump administration is going to solve that specific problem to actually enable H-2A to completely solve the gaping hole in workforce that deporting immigrant workers will create. In terms of both number and cost-to-farm-operation of workers, H-2A wasn’t a sufficient solve to the ag labor crisis last week when Biden was president, and it won’t be a sufficient solve for the labor problem under the new administration. It frustrates me that the authors here chose to frame farmers as villains and farmworkers as victims in this article, when in reality, everyone who is part of the American agrifood system is going to be harmed by the threat of mass deportation.

2. What Trump’s USDA Pick Brooke Rollins thinks about food and nutrition

   TL;DR: She’s keeping a lot answers open-ended right now.

   My takeaways: 1) If you care about food and you’re feeling like the policy environment right now is too dynamic to keep up and you don’t know who to trust, subscribe to FoodFix right now. I been following Helena’s reporting for years and her work is just the best. I wish that there was an ag version of FoodFix and if there is but I don’t know about it, please let me know.
   2) I guess…we’ll just keep waiting and seeing? I’m cautiously optimistic about Rollins for no particularly good reason. No one seems to really know anything about her, because she’s never really worked in ag in any meaningful way. In some ways, that fresh perspective could serve the USDA…time will tell. It is kinda fun that she’s agreeing with Cory Booker to cut ultra-processed foods from school lunches. I’m here for that. (But, let me point out that the consequence of doing that will be increased prices for school lunches. The alternative to ultra-processed food involves a lot of specialty crops. Specialty crops require a lot of labor. Labor is…being deported! And already too expensive/not available! So yeah, that’s a potential problem she want to look at. Her confirmation hearings are Wed and Thu, but it’s expected that she’ll get confirmed.

3. At Colorado meatpacking plant, a vulnerable workforce braces for Trump 2.0

   TL;DR: Hiring refugees is a smart way that meat-packing and other dangerous industrial jobs attract a cheap and reliable workforce. That’s looking less secure in a world where, one week in to Trump’s presidency, refugee resettlement has already been suspended and he and his administration look to be making good on their promises re deportation.
   My takeaways: Think your eggs are expensive? Just wait till we don’t have anyone to break down your chicken, pork, beef, etc. Trust me, you don’t want that job. Moreover, the humans who do it have already fled horrific scenarios and its absurd that we’re wasting time speculating about how bad it could actually get in terms of asylum reversal and mass deportation. We should be having conversations about how to pragmatically make these hard working folks’ jobs safer, healthier, easier, and more efficient such that we can all enjoy affordable, humanely handled animal protein.

Where in the world is Connie?
I’ve added this section because I’m apparently difficult to track. If I’m in a place that you are, or in a place that someone you think I should know is, let me know!
2/2-2/10 - NJ/NYC - Mostly working from the burbs and seeing the fam, with a few meetings sprinkled in.
2/16-2/19 - Brisbane - I’ll be leading a collaborative breakout Collaborative Solutions for Agtech Growth with Meg Lovegrove and Rob Hulme of AusAgritech at Evoke.

Cheers,
Connie