👨🏼‍🌾. Farm Labor Lowdown /🌲 Timber Dynamics / 🌎 Ag Around the World

Late last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a pair of bills aimed at providing legal status for millions of undocumented immigrants.

And the ears of farmers, agribiz leaders, and ag policy gurus perked up across the country.

Every “dreamer” gets his day: The first bill provides a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally when they were children [“dreamers”]. The legislation’s companion bill, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021 (FWMA), also passed the House with a bipartisan vote of 247-174 and got the ag industry's attention.

The deets: The FWMA improves the H-2A temporary ag worker program, requiring ag employers (through a phase-in) to use the E-verify system for all employees. This would provide a pathway to legal status for the over one million undocumented U.S. farmworkers.

All Most are on board: The legislation is getting rave reviews by over 300 ag organizations including the National Council for Farmer Cooperatives, National Milk Producers Federation, and Western Growers. Notably absent from the list is the American Farm Bureau Federation, citing concerns over how guest worker wages are calculated.

Where this goes: The bill now moves to the Senate. But even though it’s getting some bipartisan support in the Upper Chamber, the GOP might pull a “not so fast (fili)buster.”

A 50-50 party split mixed with a cloud of uncertainty facing the Biden Administration’s current handling of immigration issues could make it tough to get the 60 votes needed to reach the President’s desk for signing.

→ For the long HAULS. With support from over 100 ag and livestock groups, the HAULS Act of 2021 has been reintroduced in Congress, allowing drivers flexibility from standard hours-of-service rules when moving perishable commodities or animals.

→ 15M acre wetland win. Ducks Unlimited celebrated surpassing 15 million acres of conservation efforts to restore habitats that benefit waterfowl and the environment.

→ SOS for Canadian bacon. Operating on razor-thin margins, Canadian pork producers are asking the government to raise their assistance payment rate from 70% to 80% due to farm income flailing during the pandemic.

→ Amazon in ag. Blockchain builder BlockApps revealed TraceHarvest's network expansion with Amazon Web Services to use the tech juggernauts cloud services to give agribusiness customers fast, flexible insights.

→ A dairy import dip. With a drain on foodservice demand for cheese in 2020, total dairy imports for the U.S. fell 2.2% from 2019. But watch out, January ‘21 imports already show a 9.5% year-over-year gain.

→ Big railroad buy. Banking on increase North American trade, Canadian Pacific Railway purchased Kansas City Southern for $25 billion to connect enough tracks to link the U.S., Mexico, and Canada for the first time.

→ Sad day for 4-H. With no income-generating activities over the past year at its 12-acre campus in Chevy Chase, Maryland, the National 4-H Center is up for sale.

Surging demand and next-level lumber prices are leaving lumber producers and home builders in a bit of a conundrum.

Lumber supply has plummeted due to sawmills’ pandemic precautions while home builders are ramping up production because of low home inventory and interest rates.

Add in all the quarantine DIY projects, and suddenly that dream farmhouse [or any home project including lumber] might just break the bank.

By the numbers:

Lumber price per thousand board feet is up a whopping 188% to $1,044 since the start of the pandemic.
The average new single-family home price is up $24,000+ on just lumber costs alone.
Lumber futures hit $1,000 per thousand board feet in February, compared to last year’s average of $456.

Both ends of the supply chain are feeling the brunt of the situation. Sawmills are paying producers the lowest prices in decades due to a surplus of standing southern pines. And the National Association of Home Builders urged the Biden Administration to review the lumber supply chain, suggesting strategies to boost supply.

Looking ahead: If COVID-19 cases continue to drop, mill production can ramp up. And new producers are expected to enter the piping hot market, increasing lumber supply.

But the strong home building will continue into 2022, and concerns remain about construction firms with fixed-price contracts who can’t absorb crippling price increases and might go out of business.

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Brazil

Outbreak backlash. Brazil-based JBS was court-ordered to pay $3.62 million in damages related to inadequate worker protections throughout the COVID-19 pandemic at its São Miguel do Guaporé beef facility. Cases sprung up at 23 JBS facilities across the country over the past year.

France

Back on the poultry track. After culling nearly 3 million birds, France is allowing poultry farms to resume production and restart breeding programs in areas previously battered by the H5N8 bird flu virus. New cases of the strain plummeted from 130 in the first week of January to five in the first week of March.

Germany

The hunt is on. The country’s agriculture ministry plans to promote increased hunting of wild boars to battle African Swine Fever [ASF]. The 845 ASF cases found along the Polish border have all been in the wild, with no cases in farm animals. With a goal to fast-track resuming export to Asian countries, Germany hopes the extra hunting will help stabilize its falling pig prices.

Taiwan

Prayin’ for rain. The island nation is bearing its most intense drought in half a century as typical typhoon rainy seasons were absent this year. Known for their rice, mango, and pineapple crops, nearly 3,000 farmers held a three-hour prayer event for the first time in 58 years to summon the much-needed rains.