This week the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services updated its COVID-19 testing order for agricultural employees. Fully vaccinated workers will now be exempt from routine screening and testing.
“That aligns Michigan’s COVID protection plan out of MDHHS with the CDC recommendations with regards to individuals working in the ag industry who have or have not actually completed the full vaccination within the industry,” said Jim Johnson, director of Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The new order went into effect June 11. Everything that was in place prior to that assumed no one was vaccinated. According to MDHHS, roughly 60 percent of Michiganders are now vaccinated.
“What the new order does is it recognizes that there’s a significant portion of the population who are fully vaccinated and have that protection, and therefore, there are some loosening of the requirements as a result of that vaccination,” said Johnson.
This loosening of restrictions is beneficial to the state’s migrant workers. Roughly 90,000 workers and their families come to Michigan each year to harvest and process the state’s specialty crops.
“There’s been a lot of work here, and a lot of work moving towards getting past the COVID pandemic,” said Johnson. “They’ve been extremely important in that process—continuing to do the work but also doing the best they can working with the farmers to be as safe as they possibly can be.”
Michigan Farm Bureau is arguing this order will present new concerns for farmers, since testing of new or symptomatic workers is still required. However, vaccinated housing residents and employees must be tested if they’re showing symptoms of COVID or have been exposed.
“The new order’s broad scope is disappointing for Michigan’s farmers who face a competitive market for workers who have options to seek employment in states which have lifted COVID-19 testing requirements,” said Ben Tirrell, Michigan Farm Bureau associate legislative counsel. “Both workers and their children are now ordered to present proof of vaccination, be tested for COVID-19 or undergo a two-week quarantine just to work at each unique agricultural employer. Many so-called ‘follow the harvest workers’ may have to make these decisions numerous times during the coming season.”
