Farming the Countryside: The Immigration Challenge & Its Impact on Agriculture

Partner Rachel Beardsley joins the “Farming the Countryside” podcast with host Andrew McCrea to discuss how immigration impacts the US agricultural industry.

She covers immigration trends in the agricultural space, including how employers recruit locally to fill open positions, but turn to immigration as an additional talent acquisition tool as there are often more open positions than there are domestic workers to fill roles.

She also comments on how the increased level of sophistication of agricultural roles dovetails well with immigration because agricultural companies are using professional-level visa categories that require applicants to have university degrees to address advancements and technology in the sector.

Additionally, Rachel shares common visa categories used by those in the agricultural sector and the associated requirements employers might face when recruiting foreign talent.

She then touches on the green card process and the instances when agricultural employers might leverage that option, including retaining a top performer or avoiding a business interruption when a senior-level employee is an immigrant and might face work interruptions when renewing their visa.

Listen to the full episode here.