Ag operations in the southern U.S. make up nearly half the H-2A positions certified each year by the Department of Labor. Louisiana has the highest percentage of its ag labor force in the program, but This Week in Louisiana Agriculture says the workforce is still an issue.
Just last week, the recently formed House Ag Labor Working Group put forward some recommendations aimed at easing those labor problems. Some of them include streamlining the hiring of H-2A employees, expanding that program to meet year-round needs, paying employees based on duties they perform during the majority of their day, and reforming wage calculation standards to improve stability in farmworker pay rates.
