This week, we welcome someone who might possibly be our most loyal listener (besides our parents: shout out to them!). We are delighted to host Katharine's brother-in-law Dan on this third episode in our ag labor series. Dan introduces himself in his role as one-third of the Lotspeich Family Farms team, located on the Lotspeich homestead in northern Nevada where they grow a diverse number of fruits, vegetables, and fresh cut flowers.
Our conversation quickly turns to misconceptions about the agriculture industry from those not involved in ag who are proposing solutions.
This topic sprung from an op-ed Dan shared with Katharine last fall written by a former immigration judge decrying the proposed Farm Worker Modernization Act. While he may know a lot about immigration law, it's clear from the piece that the honorable judge is badly misinformed about American agriculture.
Dan takes us through many of the points made in the editorial, including why saying that farms should pay a living wage is not only a thinly veiled misunderstanding of actual agriculture labor wages, but also a sly use of misdirection. He also addresses the hypocrisy of the charge to pay higher wages while directly accusing agriculture of taking advantage of tax and business structures to benefit them just like any other business in any other industry would.
Once again, we have a standout guest with perspectives that broadened and informed our own, and we hope it will for you too. If you want to think about ag labor from the point of view of trying to help industry outsiders craft solutions that make sense for agriculture, this is the episode for you. Tune in!
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Love, Katharine and Val