September 2019 - 18

AG LABOR REVIEW
Take your concerns directly to decision-makers
MICHAEL MARSH
President & CEO
National Council of
Agricultural Employers
Michael@ncaeonline.org
from a rural area and make our case.
Ultimately, we can ask the office of the
commander-in-chief to weigh in too.
Of course, those checks I note can be a
blade that cuts both ways.
When we are trying to move language
I was composing an email response to a
colleague the other evening. We had been
corresponding about regulatory changes
taking place in agricultural labor. Even
though we touched on a few federal issues
that may be getting nudged here and there,
I realized most of our back and forth
revolved around things taking place in
state legislatures.
And that made me think more about this.
In Washington, D.C., we probably
have more checks that can be unleashed
on bad ideas to prevent them from
becoming law. We can block things or
get things held or at least slowed down
in D.C. In state capitals, this seems to be
difficult to do, particularly with those
legislatures more urban in their makeup.
We can have members of Congress
from agricultural districts reach across
the aisle to their city brethren and seek
opportunity to hear agriculture's side
of the story. We can go to a powerful
committee chair or ranking member
and legislation in the House, we must be
mindful of messaging necessary to win
support for the same in the Senate, and
vice versa. However, we also recognize that
working with Congress, it's always easier to
kill something than it is to pass anything.
The fact that anything ever gets done,
almost comes as a surprise when it does.
I'm not sure we see similar checks
available in the states.
Perhaps the notion is agriculture
should accept the fact that those state
legislators from New York City, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago
and Minneapolis know far more about
farming and ranching than those who
grew up in it. Obviously, they know
more about what we do and how it
should be done, than we do.
City folk understand far better than
us what it requires to cash flow a legacy
family business. They have much better
understanding of livestock care and
nutrition, fertilizer application and even
irrigation than we can even dream.
And, of course, they are also far wiser
than agriculture can ever be when it
comes to ag labor issues.
Thankfully, they use this
overwhelming wisdom to save us from
ourselves in state legislatures.
Not so much!
The nonsense that urban-dominated
state legislatures mistake for common
sense, is nonsense. However, too
frequently, we witness these same folks
prevail in their counsel with one another to
foist yet another bad idea upon those with
skin in the game.
Perhaps we can
keep some bad ideas
in the trash can
where they belong.
We've seen this with wages and
overtime, breaks, workdays and employee
benefits. Because, of course, Mother Nature
really has nothing to do with when a crop
gets planted or harvested.
With most state legislatures finally
wrapping for the session and even
Congress heading out of town for a recess
or other extended breaks in the future,
let's take a shot at turning things around.
Plan it out and contact urban
legislators when they are away from the
capitals. Invite them out to your farm
or ranch and share your experience
with them. Ask them to walk through
your fields or your barns with you. Use
the opportunity to tell them about how
what they do in the political world has
an impact on your sustainability. Invest
in providing them with real world
experience not found in the capitals and
see if that investment pays dividends.
Spend some time with them and
provide them with some good face time
with someone who knows what it means
to make payroll, or not. Help them to
identify with you the next time some slick
bill, designed to cure an ill that doesn't
exist, comes before them in a session. Let
them know who you are and what you do
and remind the legislator that you're there
to help them understand.
And then, be sure to follow up and let
them know how you enjoyed the time
they spent with you. Remind them that
you vote. Let's see if together we can
move the needle in some of these urbandominated
state capitals when it comes
to agricultural legislation. Perhaps we
can keep some bad ideas in the trash can
where they belong.
What have we got to lose? VGN
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September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2019
