Farmworkers are touring Washington state to call for better conditions in agriculture.

The union Familias Unidas por la Justicia, based in northwest Washington, has organized the tour, which started Sunday. It's scheduled to be in Seattle today, then travel to Olympia and Wenatchee.

Marciano Sanchez, organizer for the union, said participants on the tour are calling out the Farm Workforce Modernization Act in Congress for its expansion of the H-2A program, which allows temporary visas to farmworkers from other countries.

Sanchez argued the program is exploitative.

"They can't just go on to like a different farm and start working there for better wages," Sanchez pointed out. "If they bring up any issues that they have, complaints -- whether they don't have water, they're not getting paid well enough -- they can get fired right away, and they have to figure how to get back to their hometown."

Supporter of the H-2A program say it is needed because of a shortage of domestic workers. The U.S. Department of Labor certified more than 300,000 temporary jobs through the H-2A program in 2021.

The tour is heading to Spokane and the Tri-Cities, and ending on Friday in Yakima.

Sanchez noted farmers also would like to see improvements to Washington state's heat rules, which require employers to allow more rest periods if temperatures are 89 degrees or higher. He contended the threshold is too high.

"When you're wearing clothing that retains heat, 80, 90-degree weather can jump to 100 plus," Sanchez explained. "Just because the clothing that you have to wear to protect yourself from all the chemicals that get sprayed onto those fruits"

Sanchez added the tour is happening on Indigenous Peoples Day, celebrated on the second Monday of October.

"A lot of our members here in Skagit County, they're from Indigenous backgrounds -- of Mixteco, Triqui -- so it just worked out perfectly," Sanchez remarked.

For the second time in nearly a decade, North Dakota is considering changes to a longstanding law that blocks corporate ownership of farms. With lawmakers now hearing debate, both sides of the issue are laying out arguments. Governor Doug Burgum's administration is behind the proposed changes, arguing the state isn't competitive in livestock production. The bill would add ownership exemptions for certain feedlot operations.

Mark Watne, president of the North Dakota Farmers Union, said not only would it deplete the number of independent producers around the state, but also push profits to out-of-state companies. He added there should instead be focus on solutions within North Dakota's state lines.

"What we need to do is build processing plants, we need to find markets, we need to shore up the supply chain where our farmers and ranchers can make a little bit more money - and then we will grow animals in the state," Watne said. It really comes down to economics."

Opponents also contend farmers can build up ownership by forming cooperatives. A key change in the proposal involves removing swine, dairy, poultry and cattle feeding from the definition of a farm or ranch. Opening a window for corporations to partner with farmers can reverse North Dakota's decline in livestock production and complement its other agricultural output, Burgum's staff has contended.

Watne said the approach sought by the governor and other state leaders has had devastating effects in other states, pointing to a major loss of independent farmers in Oklahoma. He said corporate ownership of agricultural land is bad business for smaller producers.

"So, if you've got somebody rooting chickens or hogs today," Watne said, "they're not going to have a really good place to market unless they sign in with these folks and then they're at the mercy of whatever they come up with for contracts."

He and other opponents noted North Dakota voters overwhelmingly overturned similar changes approved in 2015. Other supporters of the bill include the North Dakota Corn Growers Association, which has said the changes would provide more market opportunities for its members for livestock feed. The plan would still maintain strong restrictions on corporate ownership, the group has also argued. The bill's language sets a limit of 160 acres.

The upcoming reauthorization of the Farm Bill should be developed from community needs, not corporate interests, Advocacy groups in North Carolina said. The final Farm Bill will shape what happens in agriculture for the next five years.

Margaret Krome-Lukens, Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA Policy Director, explained the legislation impacts student farming, farmers' access to credit, crop insurance, commodity programs and more. She said decades of food consolidation have placed resources in the hands of a few major corporations, and believes lawmakers should consider community and small farmer voices as they work on the next farm bill.

"Farmers and local communities should be the ones making the decisions about what kind of a food system they want, and not corporations that are coming in and dictating what kind of terms a farmer can get on a contract, or how they're allowed to use the seeds," Krome-Lukens said.

Fewer farmers are using contracts compared with 25 years ago, according to data from the USDA. In 2020, 5% of U.S. farms used marketing contracts, compared with 11% in 1996.

Krome-Lukens pointed out that regardless of operation size, farming is not an easy profession, and added many pieces of the infrastructure of our local and regional food systems have been hollowed out, shrinking options for meat processing or wholesale markets. She said that the upcoming Farm Bill is a chance to rebuild and strengthen local and regional food infrastructure.

"Small-scale farmers and beginning farmers can be at a real disadvantage when it comes to accessing federal resources or farmers who are doing something a little bit different in terms of production or niche marketing or innovative practices," she said.

The nation's small family farm operations held an average of $90,000 dollars in debt, according to 2019 federal data.

Next week, Ohio farmers and their advocates head to Washington, D.C., to push for shifting federal programs toward growing nutritious food, as lawmakers gear up to reauthorize the Farm Bill.

The cost of groceries has increased by 13% over the past year, driven largely by global supply-chain issues and the war in Ukraine.

Angela Huffman, co-founder and vice president of Farm Action, said she believes a strong system of local food suppliers would stabilize Ohio's food economy, and help ensure more families have access to fruits, vegetables, and sustainably raised meat.

"The Farm Bill matters to everybody, because everybody eats," Huffman asserted. "A large part of the reason that we're seeing this skyrocketing inflation -- and frankly, price gouging -- is because a small number of really large corporations are controlling our food system and our government policies."

According to an Urban Institute report, around one in five adults nationwide reported food insecurity in their households in 2020 and again last summer, when historic inflation levels sent food prices soaring.

Huffman added the federal government currently purchases food from major industrial producers. She is hoping the new Farm Bill shifts some buying power to local farmers for schools, hospitals and other community institutions.

"We want to be focused on empowering farmers to do what they do and feed their neighbors, and not just feeding corporate-controlled livestock around the world," Huffman emphasized.

Huffman added farmers are struggling to stay afloat in an era of falling commodity prices and the globalization of agriculture.

"The bulk of the money is going towards feed grains for livestock, which is corn, soybeans, other grains," Huffman outlined. "Farmers are really locked in this system, because that's where the lifeline subsidies are directed towards, and their margins are so slim."

Federal data show in 2019, the nation's small family farm operations held an average of $90,000 in debt.