Strawberry farmers tell Senate committee H-2A, insurance and fungus threaten Louisiana crop

On April 29, the Senate Committee on Agriculture heard from strawberry growers who said federal labor rules, crop‑insurance gaps, import competition and a fungal disease are threatening the state’s strawberry industry.

Committee sponsor Senator Wheat said growers brought the concerns to the committee after tours of local farms and that the industry’s survival hinges in part on how the federal H‑2A guest‑worker program operates. “The cost of hiring those individuals … has increased tremendously over the past few years,” Senator Wheat said, adding that the resolution he plans to file on the Senate floor would ask Congress to review the program.

Nut graf: Farmers and growers asked state lawmakers to lift the profile of their concerns as they seek federal fixes and state help for marketing and insurance. Growers said many Louisiana strawberry operations are small, weather‑sensitive and rely on H‑2A workers; they reported that current federal wage and contract rules, crop‑insurance rules built for row crops, and competition from imports make local production financially precarious.

Growers described labor as the industry’s top…