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Wisconsin farmers tell Congressman immigration reform is needed now

Farmers are continuing to tell Congress they need immigrant labor. One of them is dairy producer Andrew Heiman of Marshfield, Wisconsin, who tells Brownfield his family’s businesses rely on foreign-born workers.  “Right now, we probably have around twelve people full time and a couple of people part time, and then we are also tied in with Weber’s Farm Store and Nasonville Dairy so there’s a lot of employees.  I couldn’t even give you a number off the top of my head.”

Heiman was one of a group of farmers discussing ag policy with Congressman Sean Duffy Tuesday at Sternweis Farms near Marshfield. He doesn’t favor any particular immigration reform proposal, but want’s Washington to do one thing.  “Just get it fixed.”

Congressman Duffy says he supports securing the border, but also wants to see a year-round solution allowing legal status for immigrant workers with a short “touch back” time, meaning the workers who are already in the U.S. would not have to be in their home countries and away from their jobs very long before legal re-entry and employment. Duffy tells Brownfield he is working with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte to achieve that within Goodlatte’s H2-C visa proposal.

The farmers told Duffy the upcoming farm bill needs to keep crop insurance, make a better dairy safety net, and keep SNAP tied to the farm bill. Farmers also expressed frustration with too many federal and state government agencies having regulatory control over conservation and land use issues. They agreed the EPA and state DNR should let the Natural Resources Conservation Service have the final say for ag projects.

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