Ever-So-Slight Increases in H-2A Program Participation

Demand continues growing for farm labor through the H-2A program. John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says that even though the increase in positions certified was small, it still demonstrates how important the program is…

“We saw H-2A positions increase by two percent at 384,900 H-2A positions certified in fiscal year 2024.”

He says this year’s slower growth only seems that way due to significant historical increases in program usage.

“We are seeing a slowdown in the increase, but an increase nonetheless.”

Boatright says the high burden placed on employers is likely a factor in slower demand for temporary workers…

“The avalanche of rulemaking that's happened over the past couple of years. We've seen three-to-4,000 pages of new regulations over the past two years affecting agricultural employers, and we're also looking at the per-worker cost of bringing in these H-2A workers. So, we saw petition fees increase over the past year or two. We've also seen, in certain states, minimum wage increases that will certainly directly impact H-2A wages.

Again. John Walt Boatright, director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation.