Farm Bureau head pushes agenda

WASHINGTON — The only immigration policy worse for farmers than the one in place today might be a piecemeal change that misses out on agriculture's priorities, New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton said Tuesday.

Mr. Norton, in Washington for meetings with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said he worries that Congress, unable to pass comprehensive reform, might pass only some elements of a new immigration policy.

That could leave out farmers' priorities, such as protections for immigrants who pick apples, milk cows and perform other jobs critical to New York farmers, he warned.

"I'd be concerned about what we would give up," Mr. Norton said in an interview.

Mr. Norton visited with New York lawmakers, including Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, as he pushed the Farm Bureau's agenda. He said he is urging lawmakers to sponsor legislation on greenhouse gases, figuring that Congress should take the lead on the issue rather than give it to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

On immigration, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., has co-authored legislation. The bill also includes an "Ag Jobs" measure from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would give undocumented farm workers a path to citizenship and, for the first time, open the H2a guest worker program to dairy and sheep farmers.

Mr. Norton said New York crop growers have complained about more strict rules on the H2a program under the Obama administration, which faces pressure to tighten up on immigration policy while Congress mulls reform. Some fruit and vegetable farms in New York have been turned down for such visas, he said.