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Ag labor and foreign ownership of farm ground were two of the key topics addressed by delegates to the American Farm Bureau Federation Convention.

Maintaining a strong agricultural work force is one of Indiana Farm Bureau’s federal priorities for 2024, so it’s encouraging that it’s an AFBF priority too, said Brantley Seifers, INFB’s director of national government affairs.

“Ag labor will be one of the priorities for INFB in 2024. In fact, we plan to hyperfocus on that issue when INFB takes grassroots members to Washington, D.C., in March to lobby their members of Congress,” Seifers said.

At the delegate session, held Jan. 23, AFBF delegates voted in favor of stabilizing wage rates for guest workers and revising H-2A (temporary agricultural labor) and H-2B (temporary non-agricultural labor) programs to better meet the needs of America’s farms.

Annual increases to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) and onerous new regulations have posed unexpected challenges to INFB members who depend on H-2A labor, Seifers said, and farmers and ranchers in other states are facing the same challenges.

Also of great importance to both INFB and AFBF is the topic of foreign ownership of farmland.

AFBF delegates added policy in support of additional funding to improve data collection on the foreign ownership of agricultural land. Delegates also voted to support the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. reviewing foreign investments in U.S. agribusinesses, natural resources and real estate.

Senators Mike Braun and Todd Young, both Republicans from Indiana, have joined with a group of senators that includes eight Republicans and four Democrats in introducing a bill to collect more information about foreign ownership of agricultural land in the United States.

INFB is already supporting the bill, said Andy Tauer, INFB executive director of public policy, and AFBF is expected to support it as well.

“The focus is really on data collection,” Tauer explained.

Other issues addressed by AFBF delegates were:

• Artificial intelligence – Delegates voted to create new policy to address the growth of artificial intelligence in agriculture. AI has the potential to enhance farming practices and conserve resources, but privacy rights must be respected.
• Crop insurance – They reaffirmed AFBF’s support for increasing reference prices in the farm bill and maintaining a strong crop insurance program, including an expansion of eligibility to ensure more commodities are covered.
• Poultry contracts – Delegates called for changes to the contract poultry pay system to ensure long-term economic sustainability for farmers, and to require more transparency from chicken companies.
• Trade – Delegates added policy to recommend Congress investigate fertilizer supply chain outages and tariffs placed on imports.

In all, a total of 15 policies were recommended by INFB and all were added to the AFBF policy book this year, Seifers said.

In addition to the policy debate, delegates unanimously reelected AFBF President Zippy Duvall and Vice President Scott VanderWal to two-year terms.

For the second year, delegates were polled at the beginning of the voting session regarding their farms. The results show 99% of those who cast votes operate family farms and nearly two-thirds represent small to mid-size farms, as defined by USDA.