National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
Representing the Business Interests of Agriculture

Washington, DC—The National Council of Farmer Cooperatives (NCFC) today said that it strongly supports immediate Senate action in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

S. 1348, which is currently under consideration by the Senate, intends to provide a comprehensive, feasible guest worker program to meet the unique labor needs of production agriculture.

As part of the broad Agriculture Coalition for Immigration Reform, NCFC has long been an advocate of AgJOBS legislation designed to provide a dependable workforce for America's farms and ranches. The core principles of AgJobs, which have been pursued for over a decade, are addressed in the Senate compromise.

"Farmer cooperatives and their farmer and rancher members must have access to an adequate labor force in order to ensure their continued competitiveness in the international marketplace," said Jean-Mari Peltier, President & CEO of NCFC. "Given the unwillingness of U.S. citizens to fill needed jobs in labor-intensive agricultural activities, it is clear that foreign workers will harvest these crops. The only question is whether they will harvest them on U.S. farms, or force these operations to move offshore, to the detriment of our trade balance, economy and food security."

"We therefore urge the Senate to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform that fulfills the goals and objectives of the AgJobs coalition and ensures the future competitiveness of American agriculture," concluded Peltier. "This immediate action is necessary so that America's agricultural producers can continue to provide consumers with a healthy, reliable food supply."

NCFC is a national association representing America's farmer cooperatives. There are nearly 3,000 farmer cooperatives across the U.S. whose members include a majority of our nation's more than 2 million farmers, ranchers and growers. These farmer cooperative businesses handle, process, and market agricultural commodities and related products; furnish farm supplies; and provide credit and associated financial services. Earnings from these activities are returned to their members on a patronage basis. Farmer cooperatives also provide jobs for nearly 250,000 Americans, many in rural areas, with a combined payroll of over $8 billion.