Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 7/25/22

Time is quickly running out on a pair of bipartisan senators trying to reach consensus on a farm labor deal known as the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, your host reports .

The House-passed bill is hailed by supporters as a potential fix to the farm labor crisis thwarting agricultural production and contributing to the rising costs of food. It would create a pathway for undocumented farmworkers to recieve legal status and expand the H-2A program to allow a limited number of year-round visas.

Remaining snags: Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) have hit snags on a number of key issues — drawing out the talks.

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, a deal has been reached on the bill's wage provisions and the senators are close to agreement on the cap for year-round H-2A visas. But the expansion of worker rights — particularly the extension of the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to cover H-2A workers — continues to be a sticking point.

Heard from the lobby: The American Farm Bureau Federation, which opposes the expansion of MSPA rights to H-2A workers, caps on the number of year-round workers and increased wages — looms large over the talks. If the Senate bill includes those provisions, the Farm Bureau’s opposition could deter many Republicans from supporting it. The Farm Bureau opposed the bill as it was passed in the House.

But left-leaning groups like Farmworker Justice, which supported the bill in the House, say the removal of MSPA protections for H-2A workers could be a deal-breaker — putting the bill's drafters in a delicate position.

“The removal of MSPA coverage would doom the FWMA's chances of passage in the Senate and back in the House,” said Andrew Walchuk, the senior policy counsel and director of government relations at Farmworker Justice.

Inflation station: Food economists and proponents of the bill say it could be one of the best weapons against food inflation, which has risen at a rapid pace . If the Senate fumbles FWMA, lawmakers in Washington could blow their last, best shot at taming consumer prices at the grocery store.

Tick, tock: The clock continues to be the number one foe of getting FWMA done in the Senate. The August recess — a month-long break of legislative action — looms less than two weeks away. And after that lawmakers will have their hands full with midterm elections and other legislative priorities, like funding the government.

But even Crapo was not optimistic about the prospects of any immediate moves on the bill. “I don’t see it happening before the August recess,” he said, when asked if there would be action before then.