A couple weeks ago, U.S. Rep. Angie Craig met with southwest Minnesota farmers in Marshall for a roundtable discussion on the challenges they presently face to survive in the agriculture business.

Craig’s roundtable discussion took place many miles from her congressional district. But she is running against Peggy Flanagan in the DFL primary race for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Tina Smith. So it made sense for Craig to spend some time in southern Minnesota. She deserves some credit for not making the trip all about an election campaign.

And her discussion with farmers dived into some hot issues when it comes to farming in this region and across the U.S. One of the issues, of course, involves the Trump, Administration’s immigration policies.

The Independent report on the discussion stated that labor is a key issue for both farmers and businesses like small meat processors. And immigrants have historically played a big role in farm and meat processing operations.

“They’re just critical,” Walnut Grove farmer Arlen Knott was quoted in the Independent article on the roundtable discussion.

“We do need the immigrant population to run these plants and do this farm work,” Brian Johnson said. “We’re not going the right direction, and we just need some common sense here along the way.”

Common sense is something that’s been lacking when it comes to some of the immigration policies put in motion by the Trump Administration.

Craig, to her benefit, told the farmers she supports comprehensive immigration reform.

“We need to know who’s coming across our southern border,” she said. “But there ought to be a way for some of these individuals who have been here, who have obeyed the law, paid their taxes, worked on our farms, to earn legal status.”

Economists had warned the Administration that some aspects of the deportation campaign will hurt the U.S. economy, especially the agriculture sector. Earlier this year, President Trump himself voiced the need for flexibility on immigrants working in agriculture

Maybe some common sense is on the way now.

U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach joined House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson last week in cosponsoring the Securing Agriculture Workforce Act. According to a press release, the legislation modernizes the H-2A agricultural worker program, “delivering labor flexibility and financial predictability” to agricultural producers.

“Rigid and outdated H-2A program requirements have ignored the realities of modern farming

This producer-backed bill answers the calls of our farmers, leaving our local ag economy without a strong workforce,” Fischbach was quoted in the release.

“The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026 makes the practical, commonsense reforms required to prevent these disruptions by providing a workforce that meets agriculture needs — now and in the future,” Thompson was quoted in the release.

The legislation calls for:

• Extending the length of H-2A temporary worker definitions to 350 days.

• Eliminates requirement that H-2A workers be classified as “seasonal” instead of “temporary.”

• Establishes a single online platform shared by the departments of Labor, Homeland Security and State to streamline applications.

• Capping annual wage changes, reducing compliance burdens and streamlining housing inspections to reduce overhead costs.

The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act would take needed steps to stabilize the agriculture labor crunch that was created by the Trump Administration in the first place.

Yes, it helps to solve a problem. But that problem was partly caused by an immigration enforcement that strayed from “common sense” at times.