So what's the biggest issue facing agriculture right now? Is it crop prices? Energy costs?

"The biggest agricultural issue we have is labor," Congress member Eric Massa told us during an interview earlier this week.

Part of the problem is that employers face sanctions for hiring undocumented workers, so they've been more cautious about hiring foreign workers, which leaves them shorthanded, said Massa, who serves on the House Agriculture Committee.

The notion of labor as a major agricultural issue came up again this morning during a roundtable discussion with Massa and Congress member Collin Peterson, the Minnesota Democrat who chairs the Ag Committee.

One attendee's submitted question referenced the "battles" between farmers and immigration enforcement officials.

But reform may not be an easy task.

"The immigration issue has been very much politicized," Peterson told a crowd gathered at the New York State Wine and Culinary Center in Canandaigua.

Both representatives back legislation that they say would address the issue.

"I suspect immigration will be back on the radar after health care," Massa said during the interview. "If we try to do comprehensive immigration reform, it will fail. But if we break it into its components or parts, we'll be able to make significant progress."