U.S. Secretary of Agriculture says agency focused on Louisiana crawfish labor shortage

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – It’s no secret that American farmers, including crawfish farmers like David Savoy, rely on migrant labor.

“Our main concern is labor. We don’t have the labor anymore,” said David Savoy, a crawfish farmer for over two decades and president of the Louisiana Promotion and Research Board.

When we visited Savoy’s crawfish farm in Richard, Louisiana, back in January, it was early in the crawfish season. Now, closer to the season’s peak, producers have to process their catch. For that, they need foreign labor secured through the H-2B visa program, but those producers are struggling to bring in migrant workers this year.

USDA secretary says administration working to ease farm labor restrictions for Louisiana crawfish, shrimp industries

“In the state, our 20 major processors employ anywhere from 40 to 150 people. Only 15 of the 20 processors so far have gotten any labor,” said Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Commissioner Mike Strain said the state needs about 2,000 H-2B workers. Strain says last year’s federal government shutdown delayed work visa applications. On top of that, the program is capped, allowing domestic workers to apply. The visa limit for the first half of this year has already been reached, and Strain says if the cap isn’t lifted, Louisiana’s crawfish industry could be in trouble.

“If we don’t get these workers in, the bottom line the farmers will lose in excess of $120 million to $125 million,” said Commissioner Strain.

“We’re working to make a very quick change, as quickly as we can to basically open up the market so these labor questions can be resolved. There’s a question of how expensive it is and we’re working to bring the cost down for farmers, but just getting the labor, we’re really singularly focused on this labor issue,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

MORE: Louisiana crawfish industry faces worker shortage after DHS caps seasonal visas

On Thursday, Secretary Rollins came to Fox 8’s studios to discuss the labor shortage. When asked if the Trump administration will lift or raise the cap for H-2B visas, Secretary Rollins said that is a decision the White House cannot make.

“So the administration cannot remove the cap. That’s a Congressionally authorized statute, so the Congress has to do that. What we can do and what we’re looking to do is changing some of the rules within that to perhaps allow other programs that these farmers can apply for that are outside of the current restricted cap,” Secretary Rollins said.

With just weeks left in crawfish season, a multimillion-dollar industry hopes that help arrives in time.

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