The Meat Institute urges the Trump Administration to include the processing sector, a critical part of the meat and poultry supply chain, to be included in the administration’s plans for a stable and legal agriculture workforce.
“President Trump has an opportunity to solve the agriculture labor crisis that has challenged our farmers and ranchers for decades,” Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts said in a release.
As reforms are considered, Potts is asking the Trump Administration to include meat and poultry packers and processors in his efforts to improve agriculture worker programs.
“More than 850,000 hog farmers, cattle ranchers and poultry growers rely on meat packers and processors to market their animals and consumers rely on processors for the nutrient dense meat and poultry they feed to their families,” Potts adds.
Meat and poultry processors -- thousands of small and large companies -- keep the rural economy moving by producing the beef, pork and poultry purchased by 98% of American households, she points out.
“These companies offer excellent pay with entry-level wages ranging from $16 to $24 an hour plus benefits,” Potts says. “Our members, together with their suppliers and others in the meat and poultry supply chain need changes to the H-2A visa program and modernization of E-Verify to ensure the processing sector has access to a consistent, year-round, legal workforce.”
The Meat Institute points out that there is strong bipartisan support for packers and processors to be included in agriculture labor program reforms. In 2023, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) created the bipartisan Agricultural Labor Working Group co-chaired by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ar.) and Rep. Donald Davis (D-NC). Their final report, released in 2024, called for granting year-round industries access to the H-2A program.
“One thing that has become clear is the need for dairy producers, meat processors, sugar processors, forestry, ranchers, and others to have access to a steady and legal workforce,” the members said in the report.
Your Next Read: If I Could Turn Back Time: Farmers Open Up About Learning Life Lessons the Hard Way
