The Republican-controlled House Agriculture Committee passed its version of a farm bill last month. Senate Democrats — led by Stabenow — haven’t yet released a farm bill text, but are supporting a framework that would include a funding boost for crop insurance and climate impact mitigation.
Stabenow has been highly critical of the House Republicans’ plan, citing concerns over reductions in funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and climate conservation. She recently told The Detroit News that she’s hopeful Congress can pass a farm bill before her term ends, but “not at all costs.”
Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said there’s a bigger divide than usual on the farm bill. He predicted a “low chance” of lawmakers ironing out disagreements in time and said a more likely outcome is Congress opting to extend the current version until after the fall elections or next term.
“From a farmer’s perspective, it really creates a lot of uncertainty” about what insurance programs, grant opportunities or contracts will be available in the next planting season, Lilliston said. “It’s going to be very risky for farmers to not have a farm bill and to feel like the situation is very volatile.”
Here’s a look at other issues Michigan farmers are paying attention to.
Labor costs
Industry insiders say one of the biggest pressure points for Michigan farmers is finding enough seasonal workers to harvest crops — and affording them.
Like employers in most sectors of Michigan’s economy, farmers are struggling to fill labor shortages as the state’s domestic population stagnates and gets older.
Many have sought to fill in the gaps using the federal H-2A program, which authorizes temporary immigration clearance for foreign workers seeking agricultural jobs. In 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor certified about 370,000 temporary jobs under the H-2A program, 4% of which were in Michigan.
Farms hiring migrant workers are subject to the federal government’s “adverse effect wage rate,” a policy aimed at keeping employment opportunities fair for domestic farm workers. Michigan’s 2024 rate is set at $18.50 per hour — among the highest in the country, according to a Michigan State University study — and farmers using H-2A workers are also on the hook for paying housing and transportation costs.
“We’ve seen the wage rate that we’re federally required to pay go up about 20% the last two years,” said Kran, of the Michigan Farm Bureau. “We’ve got fifth and sixth generation family farmers that are saying, ‘This may be it if we have another big wage increase.’”
Michigan U.S. Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Caledonia, has proposed temporarily freezing rate hikes, though critics are concerned doing so could worsen existing shortages or exacerbate other issues with the H-2A system.
Reenders categorized labor difficulties as the number one issue facing blueberry growers in Michigan.
“As farmers, we’re trying to revamp it, adapt it,” Reenders said of laws governing wage rates for farm workers. “It seems like there’s just an old dictionary left to sit on the shelf that nobody wants to change.”
Specialty crop support
With more than 300 agricultural commodities produced, Michigan is among the most agriculturally diverse states in the U.S. and is the leading producer of several fruits and vegetables, including tart cherries and asparagus.
Fruits and vegetables are considered “specialty crops” and are treated differently under federal policies than commodity row crops like wheat, corn or soybeans.
Farmers growing specialty crops historically hadn’t been eligible for the same supports, such as crop insurance or federal grant funding, but they were included in recent farm bills. Michigan farmers are hoping that continues.
“Specialty crops don’t typically have as much clout as the cash crops,” said Juliette King-McAvoy, vice president of sales and marketing at King Orchards fruit farm in Northwest Michigan. “The focus on specialty crops has been invaluable to us, and we hope to continue to have that.”
Farmer-friendly trade policy
Michigan’s agricultural industry also frequently seeks support from the federal government on foreign trade issues, whether it’s expanding market opportunities to get locally-grown products into other countries or protecting farmers from being undercut by cheap imports.
