One U.S. visa program is growing rapidly. No one is happy with it
Page 7/18

"A lot of us are still trying to figure out exactly what that meant," said Cricket Jacquier, a dairy farmer in Connecticut and National Milk Board of Directors member, about the memo. "For me, it really raised dairy to the top and recognizes that there's a serious problem in the dairy industry and they want to do something about that."

Jacquier and other farmers said they want any changes or clarifications codified into law. Others, like Sydney Allison, who runs Wild Goose Farms in Florida, want workers for longer and more predictability in wage costs.

"We couldn't get the labor and so we were pushed to use this program," she said. Labor accounts for up to half of the production cost for blueberries she sells across the Eastern Seaboard.

She credits the H-2A program as the reason her farm exists, but warns it's not enough.

"We can't continue to expand. We honestly will probably shrink," she said.

Prev
Next
Back to headlines
News menu
Home