by David Kuack
With the increasing decline in the U.S. agricultural workforce, farm operators have had to look for alternative ways to continue to operate their businesses.
Mechanization for some farm operators, primarily commodity crops like corn and soybeans, has certainly helped to increase productivity and reduced the need for farm workers.
USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical Service (NASS) reports the number of self-employed and family farmworkers declined from 7.6 million in 1950 to 2 million in 1990, a 74-percent reduction. This has resulted in the need for more hired workers to keep farms operating.
USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) reports labor costs accounted for about 14 percent of total farm cash expenses in 2020. Specialty crop producers, including fruits, tree nuts, vegetables, beans (pulses) and horticulture crops, had the highest labor costs, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of total cash expenses.
For horticulture crop growers and dairies, which rely heavily on immigrant labor, labor costs as a share of income are at or near their 20-year highs. Compared to corn and soybean farmers, which had the lowest labor costs as a percentage of total cash farm expenses (4 percent and 3 percent, respectively) in 2020. The lower labor rates for these commodity crop producers were due in part to higher adoption rates of labor-saving innovations including technology and herbicides.
Increased use of H-2A program
One way in which U.S. growers are trying to fill their labor requirements is through the use of the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program. This federal program enables U.S. farm operators to bring in foreign workers on short-term labor contracts when a sufficient number of domestic workers isn’t available.
According to ERS, over the last decade, H-2A positions certified by the U.S. Department of Labor increased 225 percent, from 79,175 workers in 2010 to 257,674 workers in 2019. Of the five product categories (animal products, field crops, fruit and tree nuts, greenhouse and nursery, and vegetables and melons) in which these positions are certified, all categories have experienced growth in program use.
Increased use of the program was highest in the vegetables and melons and fruit and tree nuts categories. In the vegetables and melons category, the number of H-2A positions certified rose from 20,584 in 2010 to 88,863 in 2019, an increase of 332 percent.
ERS indicated that the need for more farm workers is evident by the rising number of H-2A positions requested and approved. These positions have increased more than sevenfold in the past 17 years, from just over 48,000 positions certified in fiscal 2005 to around 371,000 in fiscal year 2022.
According to ERS, the average duration of an H-2A certification in fiscal 2022 was 5.7 months. A certified job does not always result in the issuance of a visa. Only about 80 percent of certified H-2A jobs have resulted in visas during the last few years. In fiscal 2022 the Department of State issued around 300,000 visas.
Need to hire documented workers
One ornamental plant greenhouse grower in Colorado has been using the H-2A worker program since 2001. He has asked that his name not be used.
“After the 9-11 terrorist attacks we thought many undocumented workers would be forced to leave the country,” the grower said. “Prior to that we could go down to the local home improvement store and find as many workers as we needed. Some had “legitimate” identification cards and others didn’t.
“Also, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stepped up its raids on companies, including greenhouse and nursery operations, arresting undocumented workers, we were concerned about whether all the workers we had been hiring were legally documented. The businesses raided by ICE were not only fined, but some lost the majority of their workforce and had to scramble to find replacements.”
The Colorado grower has been hiring the same 10 workers from Mexico every year since he began using the H-2A program.
“Unfortunately, our hands are tied in regards to finding enough workers,” he said. “We’re supposed to hire Americans first before bringing in H-2A workers. The number of Americans I’ve hired since we began using H-2A is one. There are few Americans who want to do this manual work for $16/hour. Agriculture, in general, is tough work. There are times when we are down on our hands and knees all day.
“We prefer to have the H-2A workers arrive in January. We’re a seasonal grower so it isn’t particularly busy at that time of year. Having the workers arrive in January enables us to deal with any potential issue that may arise. This ensures that work isn’t getting backed up into February or later and we’re left scrambling to get everything done before the spring sales season starts.”
FEWA simplifies the H-2A process
Ever since the Colorado grower has been hiring H-2A workers he has been working with Federation of Employers & Workers of America (FEWA), a nonprofit trade association, to navigate the H-2A program.
“We began working with FEWA from the beginning,” he said. “We were looking to work with an agency or organization to navigate the H-2A program and came across FEWA.”
One of the biggest benefits of working with FEWA is the organization provides the grower with a timeline on when things need to be done in order to ensure workers arrive when they’re needed.
“FEWA tells me what I need to have in order to bring the workers in,” he said. “I don’t know all the specifics of the process for bringing the workers in. Since we have been using the program for over 20 years, I could probably do it if myself, but I would prefer to work with FEWA and let me focus on what has to be done in the greenhouse.
“FEWA does a good job of sending me the necessary paperwork to fill out and keeps me informed of what’s coming up next. FEWA will send me the instructions for completing the first stage of the process, including providing housing. Then it will send what needs to be done in the second stage, which includes advertising for workers. In the third stage, FEWA will tell me what needs to be ready for the workers coming into Nogales, where they will stay in a hotel. FEWA tells me what is actually going to happen so that I can have everything ready.”
Familiarity with program has allowed the grower to be proactive, anticipating what needs to be done to ensure it is completed in plenty of time.
“My housing inspection and water testing is done before I’m sent any instructions from FEWA,” he said. “Since we are providing housing for the workers, I make sure that is set up and any inspections that need to be done are finished. If I overlook doing something for a week on this side of the border, it could take an additional two weeks before the workers arrive here. That’s where working with FEWA is a real advantage. FEWA acts as a liaison between our company, the workers in Mexico, and the Department of Labor and United State Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
“After using the H-2A program for a couple years, growers might be able to navigate the program themselves. I choose to work with FEWA because the whole process is time-consuming and I don’t know all the procedure details, rules and regulations, which seem to be constantly changing.”
David Kuack is a freelance technical writer in Fort Worth, Texas.