NC Ag Commissioner Steve Troxler gave his annual State of Agriculture address last week, and Mike Davis caught up with him afterward. While much of agriculture continues to struggle with high costs and low prices, Troxler says tobacco is one of the exceptions this year in North Carolina.
Troxler: “We do have good news that I do know that a one of our major domestic manufacturers is going to buy a lot more tobacco this year than last. So that’s increased demand. We’ve had Japan tobacco move into Raleigh with their North American headquarters, and every time we build these relationships with these companies, then we’ve got a chance that they will select to buy more of our tobacco. So I think we’re having a good spot there right now. Production costs perhaps will come down a little bit, and he mentioned that h2 way labor is not going to escalate as fast as it has been, but that’s the major problem in any of our high dollar commodities, whether it be fresh fruits and vegetables, tobacco, sweet potatoes, because of labor is a killer.”
Davis: The need for H-2A reform…It’s said many times that it’s it’s not great, but it’s the best thing we have. Talk to me from your perspective on what we need to see done to H-2A to make it work for American agriculture, and specifically for North Carolina.
Troxler: “H-2A is not only the best thing we have, it’s the only thing we have as far as agriculture is concerned. But I’ve been working as a farmer and a commissioner on H-2A reform for over 30 years, and the things that happen to any program, federal program. Over time, it becomes so bureaucratic, so difficult to manage. You know, it needs to be simplified, but certainly the way they calculate the wage rate has got to be changed that we have. We’ve done some research, and it looks like part of the problem with calculating them, calculating your wage rate if you’re a farmer and you got people coming in from foreign countries, certainly H-2A, but you’re also required to pay any local labor the same rate of pay as the H-2A labor. So then they send you a form wanting to know how many local workers you got. So if you’ve got H-2A workers and you’re paying local workers too, you’re automatically driving up the adversary. That’s a flaw. And years ago, we we made the move to try to tie Hoag wages to the federal, federal minimum wage, and we knew it wasn’t going to be federal minimum wage, federal minimum wage plus some, and then it could be adjusted. When the federal minimum wage it was adjusted, certainly it would be adjusted. But this system they got narrowly is way over calculated the wage rate between what it needs to be.”
Davis: “And it’s not just that, of course, but farmers have to provide transportation and housing as well.
Troxler: “They do. Farmers are telling me that if you take the adverse wage rate, I think is $16, $18, or something like that, this year, when you add in the housing costs, and this has to be inspected, housing inspected by the North Carolina Department of Labor, and it’s just not any old housing. You got to have transportation for them. You got to pay their transportation costs up here and back home, and then you got to pay the fees to be in the HOA program. They said, Well, you add it all together, we got $25 an hour in farmland. So if the public is concerned about how high fruits and vegetable prices look, no further than the wage rate, that’s where it is.”
Davis: HPAI reared its head again a couple of weeks ago in Sampson County. Can you sort of give us an update on what’s being done at the state level? You’ve mentioned that North Carolina is leading the charge there for prevention and research. Talk to us about that a little bit.
Troxler: “We’re one of the largest poultry producers in the nation. In fact, we’re number one in poultry and egg receipts in the nation. So we’ve got a lot of birds here. So we need to be prepared for something like high path AI happening, and we have spent years preparing, and I’ve now got a disaster center basically in North Carolina that is dedicated to animal disease and hurricane response, particularly with animals. We’ve got machinery, we’ve got staff, and we train and we train and we train to be able to handle an outbreak. So if an outbreak occurs this afternoon, you can bet we’re going to be on it by in the morning.”
Davis: Tell us where things stand with relief efforts for western North Carolina right now. I know you made a big ask of the legislature, but we’re sort of at a standstill right now. What’s going on?
Troxler: “Well, I was told this morning that there was some movement yesterday afternoon and last night and on the House side, but not nearly as much money as what I need. I think they put 150 million, and I think it’s only for western North Carolina, and I needed the request I had put him was about 370 million for western North Carolina. So not halfway there. And it’s about timeline. You know, money. You would think money is money, no matter when it comes, but we got farmers that are needing to plant crops a month two months from now. And it takes a lot of capital now to put these crops in the ground, and most of them have to borrow capital for planning and getting through the crop. So if they don’t have the financial strength because of Helene or what we saw in eastern North Carolina and the Piedmont, then they may not be able to borrow the money to be able to farm this year. And if we’re going to do it, let’s do it. Let’s put them back in business. Give them a chance.
And that’s what we need.”