WASHINGTON — The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) provided a report on the labor challenges facing the meat and poultry industry during one of the first meetings of the House Committee on Agriculture’s Agricultural Labor Working Group on July 19.

“Our member companies of all sizes tell me their biggest challenge is a stable workforce,” said Julie Anna Potts. “Labor problems in the processing sector will hurt both upstream producers and downstream consumers. If I can leave you with one thought today, it is that the working group consider the labor needs of the processing sector as well as the production sector.”

As one possible solution, NAMI encouraged the working group to push for reforming the United States’ H-2A visa program. The group would like the program to include meat and poultry processing to meet the year-round needs of animal agriculture.

The working group, which was formed in June, is currently gathering input from the agriculture industry on the H-2A visa program as part of a final report it will create as a resource for future legislation.

NAMI added that its board of directors created a Workforce Task Force that will address the labor shortage issue, including the shortage of skilled workers such as mechanics and refrigeration technicians.