Jan 27, 2026

Farm labor outlook improves, H-2A wage rules stabilize

There’s a pair of ag labor wins that farm employers can feel good about heading into 2026. That’s according to attorney Chris Schulte with the Fisher Phillips law firm.

Schulte told attendees at the Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference that the Farmworker Protection Rule that “made a lot of farmers’ lives harder” has been rescinded and that a change in how H-2A wages are calculated from a Biden-era policy will result in wage certainty and predictability.

“There is a three-year average now so [wages] should stabilize,” Schulte said, adding that the previous three years of double-digit farm worker wage increases in Georgia were unsustainable for many farm employers.

According to his bio on the firm’s website, Schulte is a seasoned litigator and advocate who represents employers, including many in the agriculture industry. He has also worked on behalf of the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association to advocate for more farmer-friendly ag labor laws for growers in the Peach State.

He says farmers tracking H-2A program developments should pay close attention to two upcoming actions:

• New wage data will be published on July 1, 2026. Schulte says that right now, farmers know how much they’ll be paying workers for spring planting and early-season work, but we “won’t know what wages will look like for harvest” until that July 1 data is released.
• Schulte said it will be key for growers across the country to “keep an eye on your state’s minimum wage, because where the minimum wage is higher than the H-2A wage, the minimum wage prevails.” That’s due to the Adverse Compensation Adjustment, which was put in place to level the playing field for native U.S. farm workers because “those [foreign] H-2A workers don’t pay housing or food costs at the same level of U.S. workers.”

Schulte ran the data and found that U.S. farm employers stand to save $2.4 billion annually due to that ACA rule.

Schulte also believes the H-2A program will be expanded in 2026 to become a year-round program (vs. the current 10 month-program) and to include greenhouse and dairy operations.

He added additional regulations are coming that will increase scrutiny on foreign workers employed primarily as drivers on farms.

“It looks like we’ll have a new rule asking for criminal background checks from each state the person has been in for three months or longer,” he said, adding that we should know more on this development in the coming weeks and months.

“Keep in mind this is not a rule in the traditional sense, but more guidance from the U.S. consulates in Mexico — they seem to be looking closely at drivers coming across the border due to concerns that drivers are coming in and are dangerous and putting American lives at risk on the roadways,” Schulte added.

And finally, Schulte called for farmers and those in the industry to “get loud” once the long-awaited Ag Labor Bill sponsored by U.S. representative G.T. Thompson is released.

“[Ag labor] organizations are going to be urging farmers to reach out and ask their reps to support the bill,” he said. “Right now it’s still a few weeks away, and we’re hoping to see it by the end of February.