By Clint Thompson
Registration remains open for the Georgia Ag Labor Relations Forum, slated for Aug. 20-21 at the University of Georgia Tifton Campus Conference Center in Tifton, Georgia.
Topics ranging from the H-2A program, labor trafficking, housing, heat policies and compliance issues are scheduled for attendees.
Chris Butts, executive director of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, which is hosting the event, highlighted the importance of the state’s specialty crop producers attending this year’s event.
“I think this year’s (forum) will be more pertinent than ever just because of where we are with implementation of lots of new rules, and not just from USDA and DOL, but we’ve got new OSHA rules coming,” Butts said. “You’ve got the heat rule coming, so there’s a lot of information being put out there. Some of it is final, and some of it’s not, but we’ve got to start anticipating that as growers and planning.
“Mission No. 1 is to provide all of that information to our growers so that they are 100% up to date on the changing regulatory atmosphere. We want to provide that information and help them understand it, so they know how to remain on the right side of compliance. There’s also value to having all of those people in the same room together. We have growers, regulators, a lot of legislators there, and it’s the best chance we get during the year to lay out the difficulties that we have with the program but also talk about what’s working with the program.”
Click here to register.