38 NEBRASKA CATTLEMAN February 2026 of the agreement, you don’t have that payroll, insurance and financial burden year-round when you don’t really need the workers.” Head Honchos recruits from all over the world, including South Africa, Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, where Miller says there is an endless labor supply. They have offices in these countries and recruit potential employees in person. “Looking to the future, not to be pessimistic, but I don’t see the domestic labor shortage getting any better,” Miller predicts. “I think it’s a sign of the times. I think that, regardless of who’s in office, the border is going to remain tight for years to come. I believe that the aging factor is going to continue to compound on itself. So I think programs like this are going to become a necessity, and people are going to get more used to the idea of the guest worker program and start really utilizing it.” Retaining Employees for the Long Haul For those operations that need the commitment of a fulltime employee and cannot make the guest worker programs work for them, the question that plagues many producers is how do we retain quality employees to stay for the long haul? Logan Pribbeno is the fifth generation on his family’s operation, the Wine Glass Ranch outside of Imperial. Seeing some LABOR LANDSCAPE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 Guest workers come from all over the world to work seasonal positions on farms and ranches, helping to alleviate the struggle that many producers face when hiring workers.
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