I am fortunate to travel the country meeting with apple growers, packers, and other USApple members, and hear firsthand the issues and challenges they are facing daily. I am often asked, “What are the important issues?” and I want to provide an inside look at the challenges your staff at USApple is focusing on. Labor: Agricultural labor reform remains our top legislative priority. An increasingly dysfunctional H-2A guest-worker program, coupled with an increase in I-9 audits and the return of Social Security “no match” letters, have left growers without a stable labor force. On June 15, federal E-Verify legislation was […]