Farm Labor Crisis Continues: New H2A Data

Farm Labor Crisis Continues: New H2A Data

Most sectors of U.S. agriculture still faces labor shortages, new data confirms. Veronica Nigh, a senior economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, says farmers have talked for at least a decade about a tight farm labor market.

“The recent H2A data certainly proves that out. In the second quarter of the fiscal year 2022, which is January through March, the number of applications for H2A workers, which is the Temporary Ag Worker Visa Program increased by more than 17 percent, year over year. The number of certified positions increased even more: it was up by 21 percent.”

One of the reasons the labor market is so tight is that the unemployment rate in rural America is often lower than the rest of the economy.

“For example, the state of Nebraska has a current unemployment rate of 1.9 percent, so those farmers who are already having trouble getting workers out to their farms for long hours and hot weather and oftentimes difficult work, are finding it even more difficult because of an already-tight labor market.”

“In the past, it was maybe more of a production ag problem, you know, on the farm, but over time, it's gotten worse and spread throughout the supply chain. So, trucking companies are having trouble finding workers, ag processors are having trouble finding workers, and rural areas, at large, are struggling to find workers. So, certainly, it's been an issue in agriculture for a long time, but it certainly seems to be compounding and growing as time continues."

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