Perspectives on Labor Issues in Agriculture

Representing a diversity of agricultural commodities, this panel will examine the legislative and regulatory challenges and opportunities in 2025 for labor and border policies.

Speakers:

Sarah Black

Sarah Black is the General Manager of Great Lakes Ag Labor Services, LLC, (GLALS) an affiliate company of Michigan Farm Bureau. GLALS is the largest agency in Michigan that sources temporary and seasonal labor through the federal H-2A visa program. Now in their 10th year of operation, GLALS partners with state Farm Bureaus to provide H-2 and H-2B services to farms in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin and Texas, and brought in over 2,400 workers in 2024.

Sarah also jointly serves as Director of Business Operations for Michigan Farm Bureau, where her service has spanned over 30 years, including over 20 years in the policy & legislative arena serving as both the Director of the Public Policy & Commodity Division and MFB’s National Legislative Counsel.

Sarah grew up on a dairy farm and her nephew and his family continue as the 6th generation operating the centennial home farm that was started in 1865. She is an alumnus of Michigan State University with a Bachelor’s Degree from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. She is also a more than 30-year volunteer and active leader with 4-H. Sarah, her husband George and her family live in Eagle in the central part of Michigan.

John Boelts

John Boelts and his wife Alicia farm over 3,000 acres of fresh market winter vegetables, fresh market melons, durum wheat, cotton, forage crops and seed crops annual, along with their partners, in Yuma, Arizona. John has served 2 terms as Yuma County President, 10 years as Arizona Farm Bureau Vice President, and has been serving as President of Arizona Farm Bureau since November, 2024. Over the last decade John has served AFBF as chairman of both Labor and Food Safety Issue Advisory Committees. John and Alicia have three amazing children, John(20), Matthew(18) and Daisy(16).

Kristi Boswell

With her farm roots and more than a decade of agricultural policy experience, Kristi provides agricultural and food clients insights and solutions on legislative and regulatory issues impacting farm businesses and rural America. She previously served as a senior official at the USDA and the White House and advocated for farmers at a national trade association.

Kristi Boswell focuses her regulatory and policy practice on advising farm and food clients on issues that impact food production, manufacturing, and retail sale. This includes compliance with organic standards, workforce needs, immigration, farm safety net programs, risk management, conservation, rural development, and food and nutrition programs. Whether advising farmers, trade associations, cooperatives, food processors or grocers, Kristi’s enterprise-wide USDA experience gives her the unique ability to effectively provide regulatory compliance counsel and identify opportunities to actively engage policy makers for regulatory or legislative improvements with an eye for agency process.

Before joining Alston & Bird, Kristi served as a senior advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she implemented the secretary’s priorities and advised the secretary on decision-making. She was active in implementation of the 2018 Farm Bill and pandemic response using Commodity Credit Corporation authority. Kristi also held a policy role at the White House, where she served as the agricultural voice in drafting H-2A regulatory reforms and immigration legislation. Before her time in government, she served as the director of congressional relations at an agricultural trade association, where she advocated Congress for legislative change for farm members.

Charlie Garrison

Charlie Garrison was born and raised on a central Indiana dairy and row crop farm. He received a Bachelor's Degree in Animal Science from Purdue University and then was a partner in the family farm for ten years. During that time he was elected Vice-President of the Indiana Holstein Association and was selected as a participant in the Indiana Agriculture Leadership Program.

Charlie then accepted a staff position in Chicago with the Beef Industry Council, the checkoff funded promotion and research arm of the beef industry that is now part of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. While in Chicago he attended the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.

Next, Charlie moved to Washington, D.C. to create the position of Director of lndustry Relations for the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board. He remained in that role during and after the merger of the National Dairy Board staff and programs into Dairy Management Incorporated (DMI).

Now in its third decade, The Garrison Group is a Washington, D.C.-based public affairs firm specializing in food, agriculture and energy policy and communications. Clients have included businesses and organizations involved in dairy production, processing, marketing and exporting as well as meat processing, financial services and clean energy.