The California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) broke with the American Farm Bureau to oppose the Agricultural Guestworker (AG) Act (HR 4092), introduced by Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia. CFBF President Jamie Johannson appeared with BFI’s Policy Director Nina F. Ichikawa on a panel at the California Certified Organic Farmers annual meeting in Sacramento last month, speaking passionately on the professionalism and skill of California’s largely immigrant farm labor workforce. He said in a statement that “As now written, the AG Act just wouldn’t work for California farms and ranches. There’s a longstanding need to create a workable temporary-visa program for agriculture that provides greater stability and opportunities for agricultural employees and their families.” The CFBF released a survey on agricultural labor among its members last October, and local Farm Bureau chapters have come out in support of the state-level position.