Many farms rely on hired help largely through the H-2A program. As the President cracks down on illegal immigration, one Alabama tree grower reminds the powers-that-be that agriculture needs a more efficient option.
“There’s very little automation in the nursery business, so we have to have labor to do almost everything we do. We grow landscape trees, so planting, pruning, and staking. We have equipment to run that we need when we’re harvesting. When we’re shipping, we’ll have multiple crews working on many different things at one time,” said Phillip Hunter.
Hunter’s operation uses the H-2A program. He says it has been helpful but needs some serious attention.
“It’s a good program, but it’s been around 40 years, and it needs to be updated, and it needs to be streamlined, particularly the adverse effect wage rate, which we must pay. It has gone up in Alabama 34 % since 2023.”
The Farm Bureau has also spoken out on the adverse effect wage rate. Officials there call it unsustainable.
“It’s outpaced inflation eight of the past ten years. It’s highly unpredictable from year to year. We’ve seen increases as high as 23 percent from one year to the next, which is just simply unsustainable given the challenges that we see and the predictability that farmers and ranchers need to be able to make ends meet,” said John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau.
The Farm Bureau says farms using H-2A labor use around 40 percent of their input dollars to pay for it.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that the move will save farmers and ranchers $2.5 billion each year. The group warns that new methods for calculating the adverse-effect wage rate would result in lower pay for foreign workers.
November 24, 2025 11:32 AM
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Farmers who rely on H-2A workers will see a few key changes to speed up the process and make it fairer. On the ground, producers say labor issues create shortfalls in otherwise productive harvests.
October 27, 2025 01:36 PM
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AFBF Associate Economist Samantha Ayoub joins us to dive into H-2A visa program changes and what can be done to ease the pressure on producers.
October 09, 2025 12:11 PM
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In a final rule published in the Federal Register, the Department states that it will no longer base wage rates on the Farm Labor Survey.
October 02, 2025 11:20 AM
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Secretary Rollins’ plan targets high costs, labor challenges, and export growth, delivering relief at home while building markets abroad.
September 26, 2025 10:18 AM
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Farmers should anticipate continued upward pressure on farm labor costs and monitor policy changes that may further impact hiring decisions.
September 24, 2025 01:01 PM
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U.S. produce growers face a structural disadvantage—cheaper imports driving down prices while rising labor costs squeeze margins. Without new policies or technology, profitability remains uncertain.
September 23, 2025 04:09 PM
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According to the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives (NCFC), President and CEO Chuck Conner says, there is only one other option besides addressing ag labor shortages.
September 18, 2025 01:10 PM
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Labor is an ongoing crisis in the ag sector. One industry group outlines three vital reforms to the H-2A visa program that farmers need to secure an affordable, stable workforce.
September 09, 2025 12:22 PM
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