Here are some considerations for talking points.

• A fact that no one wishes to address is in this case everyone is trying to improve the future for farm workers. While it may, on first glance, seem this is false, it is very true. Those of us in the industry know what will happen to the income opportunity for this group if this Bill passes. While good intentions are involved, it will harm the very people it wishes to help.
  
  
• Overtime almost always limits the income potential for workers. While it is intended to reward the good employee, it most often limits the employee’s income potential. The end result is the employee is left with fewer dollars.
  
  
• The reality is that farm employees represent a very specific skill set. Just because you increase a perk such as overtime does not mean you will suddenly have new employees with the necessary skill set. There are only 700 players in the world with enough skill to play major league baseball. If you increase the pay there will still only be 700 players with such skills. Farm employees are in such a skill set. Supply and demand should set their income value. It has in the past and no doubt it will in the future. But it needs to be noted that to simply increase over time we will not see a new wave of citizens capable or willing to be a farm employee. Farm wages are above most retail today and yet we need to import our employees because domestic workers do not have the skill or desire to fill these jobs.
  
  
• Our fear is if this bill, as drafted, is passed it will force farms to dramatically shift their product mix away from labor to mechanized crops. This would be such a culture shift it would be impossible to reverse. End result would be that not only farm employees but NYS employees working in milk plants, processing plants and other crop related tasks jobs would be gone.
  
  
• NYS is an import state for farm employees. As previously noted, these employees are in short supply. They will have other opportunities to work in other states that will allow them to have the hours they desire for the time they are willing to sacrifice to be away from their homes. In short then we may very well be faced with a very high level of unfilled jobs.