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Commercial drivers for farms must have some English-language skills

New York Farm Bureau (NYFB) recently published an important notice about how federal regulations governing commercial vehicles driven for farms are interpreted. The NYFB message is re-posted completely below.

UPDATE: English Proficiency CMV Out-of-Service

On May 20, 2025, the Federal Motor Carrier Administration issued a memo on agency enforcement of English proficiency for Commercial Motor Vehicle (CMV) drivers. This memo clarified a long-standing regulation (in place prior to 2005) that states:

“a person is qualified to drive a motor vehicle if he/she…(2) Can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records;…” 49 CFR § 391.11(b)(2)

Pursuant to the regulation, a driver who cannot meet the requirements as outlined above is not qualified to operate a CMV in interstate commerce. This rule applies to all CMV drivers regardless of whether they are farmers, H-2A workers, other farmworkers, or for-hire drivers.

NYS does not delineate interstate and intrastate for the purposes of applying the safety regulations, which now includes this English proficiency out-of-service. Thus, while the federal guidance says this applies to interstate commerce, in New York, it will apply to all drivers because the state adopts the federal motor carrier safety regulations and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) out-of-service criteria. In New York, this out-of-service will be applied to inter- and intrastate carriers.

This new procedure on placing drivers out-of-service for lack of English proficiency has been put out by the CVSA. CVSA is an organization made up of government and industry. The membership comes up with the criteria used in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada to place a driver or vehicle out of service. This promotes uniform application of the regulations and out-of-service criteria across the continent. You can read more about this directly from the CVSA, including guidance and information on the English language proficiency roadside assessment, here.

While farmers and their employees are granted many exemptions from certain CDL requirements in 49 CFR § 390.39 (e.g. controlled substance and alcohol use and testing, physical examinations, hours of service logs), there is no exemption for farmers or their employees, H2A or not, driving a covered farm vehicle from English proficiency requirements as cited above.

We understand this issue is of great concern to farmers. In response, NYFB and AFBF have met with USDOT to discuss this issue. We will continue to work with them.

Immigration Resources for Farm Employees

The new presidential administration is clearly increasing immigration law enforcement. Farm employers are advised to get their work authorization procedures in order and prepare for possible workplace enforcement. Farm employees can also take steps to be sure that their rights are protected and that they have plans in place in case they become involved in enforcement actions. New York State Department of Labor recently shared a set of helpful resources for immigrants in multiple languages, linked below. While these resources were originally prepared for New York City, almost all of the content is relevant for people living and working in farms across the state.

It is critically important for immigrants with families or other dependents in the U.S. to have a plan in case of emergency, including immigration enforcement. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center provides an excellent collection of resources called the Step-by-Step Family Preparedness Plan. Find it here in Spanish: Plan de Preparación Familiar.

By Richard Stup, Cornell University. Permission granted to repost, quote, and reprint with author attribution.
The post Immigration Resources for Farm Employees appeared in The Ag Workforce Journal.

USDA Farm Labor Stabilization Program: $65 Million for Employers

USDA recently announced the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program (FLSP), to distribute $65 million in the form of grants to employers to “improve the resiliency of the food and agricultural supply chain by addressing workforce challenges farmers and ranchers face.” FLSP touts three goals:

“Goal 1: Drive U.S. economic recovery and safeguard domestic food supply by addressing current labor shortages in agriculture;
Goal 2: Reduce irregular migration from Northern Central America through the expansion of regular pathways; and
Goal 3: Improve working conditions for all farmworkers.”

Important details of the program are available at the FLSP website, including  that eligible applicants include employers who have used or at least applied to use the H-2A program, and the application deadline is November 28, 2023. This program encourages employers to recruit H-2A workers from countries in northern Central America: El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. For this grant application it is critical to read the notice of funding in detail. Don’t just rely on what you see on the website and press releases, download and read this 32-page document thoroughly!

Pages 8-11 of the notice of funding get into details of what will be expected of farm employers who successfully receive a grant. Baseline requirements for all successful awardees include: universal protections and benefits for all employees, not just those in H-2A; employer participation in research that includes access to employers’ full workforce by USDA and federal partners; and “know your rights and resources” training provided by “farmworker-trusted entities.” In addition to these baseline requirements, successful grant awardees will also need to make certain commitments about their employment practices in three areas:

  1. Responsible recruitment: efforts to recruit H-2A workers from northern Central America using government ministries.
  2. Pay, benefits, and working conditions: example can include overtime, bonus pay, paid sick leave, and collaborative employee-management working groups.
  3. Partnership agreements, such as: participation in a worker-driven social responsibility program, participation in a collective bargaining agreement (union), committing to neutrality, access, and voluntary recognition when employees indicate an interest in forming a union.

For some employers, these conditions and expectations of receiving between $25,000 and $2,000,000 in grant awards may be a good fit. For other employers, these conditions will be much too intrusive in exchange for any amount of money. Farm employers should read the notice of funding in detail and reflect carefully about how they wish to proceed with this program. But don’t reflect too long, applications are due November 28, 2023, it’s time to get working if you want to participate in this grant opportunity.

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