A spokeswoman for a top Iowa pork producer told U.S. senators Wednesday that farmers and meatpacking plants face severe labor shortages and need the federal government to allow them to employ immigrant workers year-round.
Jen Sorenson, communications director of Iowa Select Farms, the state's largest pork producer, said seasonal employment currently allowed under a federal visa program is insufficient to meet the industry's needs.
"If the labor shortage is not addressed, it could lead to farms and packing plants shutting down, causing serious financial harm to the communities in which they operate," said Sorenson, who's also president of the National Pork Producers Council.