The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) recently reported key facts about use of the H-2A program. The vast majority of Florida citrus is harvested by temporary foreign workers through the H-2A program.
The program continues to grow with 398,258 positions certified in fiscal year (FY) 2025.
Nearly 50% of the certifications in FY 2025 work in just five states: Florida, Georgia, California, Washington and North Carolina. Florida far outpaces all other states, accounting for over 14% of FY 2025 certifications alone.
The primary requirement of any H-2A certification reaffirms that no domestic workers desire the position. Low unemployment, falling labor participation rates and general uninterest in agricultural work all continue to strain domestic labor shortages. Only 182 positions out of over 415,000 advertised (less than 0.04%) received a domestic applicant in fiscal year 2025.
Expansion in H-2A use is the norm for most states. Thirty-eight states increased their demand for H-2A workers. Declines in H-2A use were concentrated in the Southeast and on the West Coast.
Numerous regulations have compelled H-2A users to be more specific and exclusive in their job descriptions, driving up the number of applications each farmer must submit during the year.
Each additional application increases farmers’ costs as application fees quickly add up and take months to process. Recent changes to H-2A regulations and other deregulation efforts give employers the ability to expand contracts to cover more workers and decrease application costs, which could increase use of the H-2A program.
H-2A remains the pinnacle program for meeting seasonal agricultural worker demand. With nearly 400,000 positions certified in fiscal year 2025, American farmers and ranchers continue to rely more heavily on the program. However, it is far from meeting the needs of all of U.S. agriculture. Nonseasonal industries are largely unable to use the H-2A program due to regulatory contract limits.
Additionally, only 80% of positions certified receive visas to work in the United States. So, even farmers with proven labor shortages may not be able to meet their peak employee needs via the H-2A program.
The costs of using this program, from unpredictable wage increases to application costs and nonwage benefits, have also long been a barrier for many farmers. Recent changes to the adverse effect wage rate methodology seek to correct years of uncontrolled wage inflation and recognize the large nonwage costs of utilizing the H-2A program. These changes, along with additional flexibility in work contract timelines and job duties, will hopefully make the program more accessible to other farmers, leading to continued growth of the program.
See the full Farm Bureau article here.
Source: AFBF
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