b"Fewer Family Farms = Fewer Ag WorkersAs farms get bigger and fewer people grow up on them, its making for a smaller employee pool for seasonal agriculture jobs. Ashley RobinsonWHEN IT COMESto hiring seasonal agriculture jobs, its easier to hire someone who grew up on a farm and thereforeWHATS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CANADIAN has an agricultural background. However, farm kids are becom- AND U.S. SEASONAL WORKERS PROGRAM? ing a rare species.The young men and women coming off of family farms are fewer and farther between. So, as we grow and expand and takeHow do the U.S. and Canada handle their temporary foreign workers? The answer: on different pieces in our business, we start to see how we canpretty similarly.bring in individuals that don't have a farming background, Adam Ogle, general manager of Total Seed Production, says in theWhile the U.S. has the H-2A status workers, Canada has the Seasonal Agricultural June 30 episode of Seed Speaks. Worker Program (SAWP), which allows employers ranging from farms to seed Total Seed Production is a wholesale and contract corn andbusinesses to hire temporary foreign workers when Canadians and permanent soybean seed production company based near Tipton, Ind. Theyresidents arent available. These workers can be hired from participating countries employee 70 people with as many as 60 seasonal workers hiredfor a maximum period of eight months, provided they are able to offer the during the busy summer/fall seed production season. Total Seedworkers a minimum of 240 hours of work within a period of six weeks or less. Production tries to hire local but struggles to attract employees against other industries in the area. To qualify for the SAWP, employers must meet three criteria:For the last three or four years, it has seemingly been harder and harder to find labor, especially seasonal labor, as we The temporary foreign workers hired must be citizens from Mexico or approach harvest which is usually our busiest time of year. Theparticipating Caribbean countries.pandemic obviously did not help with that, Ogle explains.Production must be in specific commodity sectors.With the pandemic uncertainty as this growing season approached, Ogle said they tried to prepare in advance by bring-The activity must be related to on farm primary agriculture.ing in more H-2A workers (temporary foreign agriculture work- Similarly, employers must meet specific standards in the U.S. to request an H-2A ers) than usual this year.worker. In addition to offering a temporary or seasonal job and demonstrating Foreign workers arent the only way Total Seed Production has branched out in their worker search. They have also startedthere are not enough U.S. workers available and willing, employers must show to hire more people who didnt grow up on farms or have anemploying H-2A workers wont adversely affect the wages and conditions of agricultural background.similarly employed U.S. workers. We start to see how we can bring in individuals that don't have a farming background and teach them something about our operation or teach them how to be seeds men and seeds women, Ogle says. That has opened up more opportunities for us, pulling from surrounding states and pulling from different industries here around where we're located.ON THE WEBA lot of the training employees receive is hands on. Ogle saysWHERE they make sure all seasonal employees have someone close by who can monitor them and answer any questions they may have. Theres also the option for future permanent employment at Total Seed Production. Seasonal employees who stand out can be hired permanently, Ogle says.Whereas we're having those interviews and bringing people in, that's one thing that we point out is that there is a very good opportunity here if you come in as a seasonal worker, heIf youd like to hear more about what Adam Ogle and Ashley Robinson discussed, take a listen toexplains.SW Ep. 4 of Seed Speaks: seedworld.com/seed-speaks-episode-4-seasonal-labor/70/ SEEDWORLD.COMSEPTEMBER 2021"