Posted on 01/31/2012 10:00:39 AM PST by FroedrickVonFreepenstein
Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman gets an earful from farmers and ranchers struggling to fill job vacancies.
It is an economic calling, he said, worthy of thinking outside of the box. The cry of desperation from large dairies and feedlots is that loud.
"You've got to listen to your customers," said Rodman, a veteran corporate agriculture executive comfortable wearing a cowboy hat in the Statehouse.
He has traveled as secretary to the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico in an attempt to recruit people interested in agriculture careers in Kansas. That shows promise, but the payoff would be slow.
He also has looked to Washington, D.C. There is little optimism Congress will sort out the politics of immigration anytime soon, but Rodman met several times with officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about launching a pilot program in Kansas. The idea is to place employers and undocumented immigrants in a special network organized by the state. It would give rise to a legal, straightforward manner of organizing existing immigrant labor.
It won't happen, of course, without a nod from the federal government.
"I need a waiver," Rodman said. "It would be good for Kansas agriculture."
So far, Homeland Security hasn't signaled approval. Those officials haven't closed the door either.
(Excerpt) Read more at cjonline.com ...
“You’ve got to listen to your customers,” said Rodman
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