MI HCR0021

Agriculture is Michigan's second-leading industry, contributing approximately $96 billion annually and supporting more than one in five Michigan jobs, with over 300 different agricultural commodities produced statewide.

The H-2A visa program is the only legal means for farmers to hire foreign seasonal workers, but the program is complicated, expensive, and has a three-week timeline that makes it impractical for farms needing workers on short notice to harvest time-sensitive crops.

Only about 500 of Michigan's 48,000 annual seasonal workers are hired through the H-2A program, leaving significant workforce shortages that force farmers to forego harvests or transition to less labor-intensive crops like corn and soy.

Labor shortages threaten Michigan's agricultural diversity and locally-sourced food supply, with potential long-term economic loss of hundreds of millions of dollars and reduced tax revenue to municipalities.

The resolution urges the President and Congress to adopt comprehensive immigration reform that streamlines seasonal worker hiring and provides legal work status, enabling farmers to maintain diverse fruit and vegetable production.