Vilsack: First Step in Rebuilding Ag Workforce

It's not enough to provide loans and grants to support local farmers, or to build or improve local food processing facilities.

"There's also the people that are needed to be trained and experienced to do the work."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said one of the biggest problems farmers and food processing companies have is a shortage of workers, and so, "we're going to make $40 million available to work with land grand universities, community colleges and minority serving institutions, to support workforce development; starting with the meat and poultry industry.  This is a first step in an effort to rebuild the workforce for agriculture."

But bill's accept another badly needed step in that direction is comprehensive reform of the nation's immigration laws.

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