The Stamers are farm gurus. Their name is well known around the small farming town of Hector, Minnesota. The Stamer’s have been farmers by trade around this area of The Gopher State for generations. Jeff Stamer started farming with his dad in high school in the 1980s and carried on his family’s farming legacy when he founded the Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership in 2008.

Unfortunately, Jeff Stamer passed away in 2022, while his business thrived. Now, Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership is managed by his wife Robin, Farm Operations Manager Nathan Herdina, and Financial Operations Manager Laura Girodat. Together, Robin and the management team help keep Jeff Stamer’s farming legacy alive and well.

Years before his passing, Jeff Stamer enlisted the help of USA FARM LABOR for his business’s seasonal workforce needs. Like most farmers in the area, sourcing domestic seasonal help became increasingly difficult as the years passed, so his business needed a solution.

Jeff knew he needed reliable seasonal labor to help with an array of crops, so he tasked Girodat with the business’s H-2A application. Girodat was referred to USA FARM LABOR and our two companies have worked together for over a decade.

Girodat recently sat down with the USA FARM LABOR team to discuss how Jeff Stamer Farms utilizes our agency’s services and has expanded its use of the H-2A program to help stabilize the business’s workforce.

Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership is Setup for Success

To better understand Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership and its needs, we’re going to take a small step back to when Jeff’s father, Leroy Stamer, taught his sons and daughters how to farm.

Leroy Stamer also taught his kids the business of farming, not just how to effectively grow crops. Today, Jeff’s name adorns his family's farming operations in the town of Hector, Minnesota. Jeff Stamer carried his father’s teachings over to his business.

“Jeff knew what he was doing, the Stamers are very proficient at farming. Jeff had a vision. His outlook wasn’t just for the current year or even the next year, but for five, ten, and many years to come,” explains Girodat.

“That vision included working with his daughters,” she adds.

“And Jeff just knew how to grow a team. Some of the team have been employed with Jeff since 1996, so we have an astonishing total combined years in farming – that’s just really amazing,” Girodat states.

Jeff and Robin have five daughters who will someday become viable in the business – and the Stamers’ farming legacy will continue.

Why Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership Needed USA FARM LABOR’S Services and an H-2A Workforce

Jeff Stamer ran an impressive operation and built a rock-solid team, so why did his business need a seasonal H-2A crew?

“Minnesota is a state that pays overtime [for ag employees], so it’s time and a half after 48 hours. For a lot of people, harvest is a good chance to make extra money,” Girodat says. “Even with that, we can’t seem to get any local applicants.”

For the record, the agriculture industry is typically exempt from paying overtime. Minnesota’s laws are different, so ag workers in the state can earn a pretty decent living with hourly wages and overtime combined. Minnesota’s overtime rules definitely make it an attractive destination for all types of ag employees looking to make a nice paycheck.

Regardless, there’s just a serious lack of interest in ag jobs among local, domestic employees.

“The year that Jeff passed, we went around to the different colleges, high schools, talked to the Ag departments, the FFA (Future Farmers of America) programs, recruited kids, and no one applied,” Girodat remarks.

For all of the agriculture and horticulture programs the management team visited across Minnesota, none of these students were interested in the jobs available at Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership. Unfortunately, it’s a common occurrence that we hear a lot. An agribusiness thinks it is being creative to help fill critical positions and their recruitment efforts don’t work out as planned. Management can rely on Jeff and Robin’s daughters to help, but that’s not a long-term solution, for now.

“However, when the college kids [Jeff and Robin’s daughters] come home, we put them to work,” Girodat states. “Jeff’s daughters are very instrumental from planting to harvest,” she adds. “But that’s very short-term.”

The fact of the matter is it’s becoming increasingly challenging to find reliable ag employees, especially in the small farming towns of the Midwest. There simply aren’t enough people available to work these critical jobs and staff some of these massive ag operations.

Off of that, large agricultural employers such as Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership also need to consider insurance requirements including criminal background checks and driving records. These requirements further limit and restrict the pool of available, qualified farm job candidates.

The Role of H-2A Employees in the Business

“We grow corn, sugar beets, sweet corn, peas, and sweet peas,” Girodat explains.

“We haul corn in June and through August, and then pre-lift harvest begins for sugar beets at some point in August,” Girodat explains. “That’s when we start adding employees for harvest.”

“Growing sugar beets is a labor-intensive process, so when it’s time to harvest sugar beets, we need additional labor,” notes Girodat.

Sugar beets are important to America’s economy and food production — these types of beets store sucrose which can be harvested for a range of uses. According to UC Davis Agronomy, sugar beets account for roughly 35% of the world’s sugar production and 50-55% of America’s sugar production.

“When harvest starts, we need more help, and that’s when the majority of our H-2A employees arrive,” Girodat explains.

Harvesting and hauling crops such as sugar beets is a labor-intensive process. It makes sense to bring in a seasonal H-2A crew to assist with harvest.

But, when Jeff Stamer sadly passed away, the management team needed to step up in a time of grieving and find a way to replace a lot of lost productivity.

“We had to start bringing our H-2A employees over a little earlier with the passing of Jeff,” adds Girodat. “Even as the owner, his presence, he [Jeff Stamer] did the work of three people, so we had to have employees here earlier to offset his absence,” she explains.

Farmers and agribusinesses need the ability to pivot and adapt, especially in the face of adversity. When Jeff Stamer passed away, he left a void in his business. Unfortunately, we hear a lot of this from our clients.

Founding farmers pass away and family members or management teams turn to our workforce solutions to help make up for the lost productivity. Seasonal H-2A employees are a great solution for many of our clients in this situation.

Our staff is sensitive to the fact that family farm operations will experience loss, and we work together with our clients to develop a staffing strategy to meet their unique workforce needs. Our H-2A workforce solutions are also a great way to help keep family farms functional and profitable until the next generation is ready to take over.

Setting the Standard for Employee Treatment and Fostering a Mutually Beneficial Relationship

Running a farm or agribusiness is just like running any other type of business, and when you treat your employees well, that treatment tends to pay off in the long run. Jeff and Robin Stamer understood this concept and their business still upholds these standards, thanks to Robin’s, Laura’s, and Nathan’s incredible leadership.

“Jeff Stamer Farms believes in giving its employees every chance to be successful. We hope by giving both our foreign and domestic employees the tools they need to get started, the employee sees his or her value and invests his or her time by working harder,” furthers Girodat.

Investing even a little bit in your seasonal workforce eventually pays off in the long run. The management team at Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership appreciates the extra help and they have no problem showing their gratitude.

“Whether they’re appreciative or not, which most of them are, that’s the type of character that we want here, in workers and in who we are. They’re away from their families, they’ve traveled across the ocean, and these employees have come a long way here to do a job for us when we can’t find domestic workers to do it,” adds Girodat.

Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership treats its H-2A employees with dignity and respect. The management team realizes the sacrifices these employees make and looks to reward them with steady work and a nice paycheck.

“I would hope that when they leave here, they go home safe with a nice little payday in their pocket,” furthers Girodat.

Managing an Efficient H-2A Workforce

It can be hard to quantify efficiency, but that’s exactly what Girodat gets out of her H-2A employees – good work completed on time.

“Like we discussed, we run a very, very efficient crew. We don’t like employees sitting around here with nothing to do. The last thing we want to do is bring over H-2A labor and have them sitting in the house bored,” explains Girodat. “We need employees for tilling, running grain carts, getting crops in and out of the ground.”

Nathan, Laura, Robin, and the team at Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership all work hard to keep its employees happy, working, and productive. From the initial welcome packet to meals while harvesting, the management team at Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership believes in treating its full-time staff and seasonal H-2A crew fairly. In turn, they get a skilled, qualified, efficient seasonal workforce.

These principles have paid off for the business. Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership looks positioned to be in business for generations to come.

Trust Your H-2A Program Needs to USA FARM LABOR

The team at USA FARM LABOR is dedicated to the agriculture industry in America. Our team listens to your staffing needs and develops a plan based on your business’s unique staffing requirements. Our services are critical for the success of Jeff Stamer Farms Partnership and we’re committed to doing the same for your farm or agribusiness.

Whether you need one seasonal employee for harvest or you need a skilled crew of 50, we’re committed to providing you with reliable labor, every season, guaranteed.

Give us a call or fill out a contact form and one of our associates will get in touch with you shortly to discuss your needs. We’re confident that we have a solution to fit your business.