The number of workers authorized for H-2A visas is up over the last decade, and economists say that pattern is likely to continue.
Labor Department numbers show 378,000 H-2A workers were granted temporary ag positions. Back in 2012, it was much less with around 100,000. Economists with FarmerMac say they expect that number to grow as long as the pressure remains on the labor markets.
H-2A farm labor is used heavily in fruit and vegetable states like California and Florida. Iowa tops the list in the central U.S. with Minnesota and North Dakota right behind.
Related Stories
Stuart Woolf, a second-generation farmer in California’s Central Valley, shares his deep passion for farming and sustainable agriculture.
To mark the end of National Chicken Month, we take a look at how the U.S. poultry industry is making a slow and steady recovery following the widespread outbreak of High-Path Avian Flu (HPAI) in 2022 that devastated commercial flocks across the country.
