As part of the critical U.S. food supply infrastructure, U.S. pork producers are committed to keeping Americans and consumers around the world supplied with nutritious protein.

The ongoing U.S. pork industry labor shortage on farms and in plants, now exacerbated by COVID-19, threatens to increase food prices, disrupt the pork supply chain and weaken a critical economic sector for rural America. This week, National Pork Producers Council members contacted more than 1,100 lawmakers, USDA officials and other policymakers, urging the reinstatement of TN visa processing in Mexico and asking for expanded agricultural guest worker visa programs that work for livestock agriculture and harvest facilities.

As NPPC President-Elect Jen Sorenson told Politico, "We've already been facing labor gaps … But it has become exacerbated by COVID-19 when you layer on daycare and school closures and just what the average family is going through right now — it makes it even more uncertain."

A labor shortage in the U.S. farm and plant communities means there are good jobs with solid pay and benefits available to qualified individuals. This week, the NPPC launched a new social media campaign to highlight that U.S. pork is hiring and needs a larger pool of workers — whether American or foreign-born — to help ensure an uninterrupted supply of U.S. pork to consumers here at home and around the globe. The NPPC will continue to work with Congress and the administration to address the labor shortfall on farms and in plants.

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