An immigration bill introduced in the U.S. House calls for moving the H2A visa program from the Department of Labor to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Minnesota Milk Producer’s Association President Dave Buck says it would be productive to move that immigration program into the hands of those who best understand agriculture.

He says finding enough dairy workers is a challenge nationwide and is very apparent in his home area in Minnesota.

The Family Farm Relief Act would require a more user friendly system and would let farm cooperatives and other agriculture groups apply for workers for their members. Buck says anything that speeds up the process of allowing immigrant workers in the country would be helpful.

Under the legislation, immigrant workers would be able to fill out either an H2A paper application or online version.