Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack speaks to the North American Agricultural Journalists today in Washington. (Charles E. de Bourbon/The Hagstrom Report)

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today that immigration reform is vital to the future of American agriculture and rural America, and suggested that the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and other local offices could play a role in tracking guest workers who come to the United States.

“We have a choice in this country. We are going to import workers or we are going to import food,” Vilsack said in a speech to the North American Agricultural Journalists.

Because the Agriculture Department has a “footprint” in every county in the country, he said, USDA has an “opportunity to partner with Department of Labor.”

Vilsack did not specifically mention the Farm Service Agency, but in a question-and-answer period said he was referring to FSA and other agencies. He noted that the Labor Department has regional offices.

By raising the possibility of USDA involvement in the implementation of an immigration reform law, Vilsack waded into the conflict between growers and farm workers over who will be responsible for the new law.

Vilsack said USDA local offices could track the workers once they enter the United States. He also said that USDA could play a role in the determination of the cap on the number of farm workers and the decision on how much they will be paid, as well as providw more detailed information on farm wages to Labor.

But he was also clear that only the Labor Department could enforce provisions on working conditions.

Farm groups have said that the Agriculture Department should handle some agricultural labor immigration issues while the United Farm Workers maintains that it should stay at the Labor Department.

Vilsack seemed to be proposing a role for both agencies.