Ag Labor Review: California growers face challenges with H-2A farmworker housing

I recently called a friend in California and could tell right away that I had woken him up. He explained that he had been asleep because they planned to start picking winegrapes that night. The crop was lighter than last year, but fruit quality was exceptional.

He and his wife expected a decent year, but he worried about having enough workers to harvest his Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. His buyer refused to allow machine harvesting because “the machines just aren’t as discerning as human touch.”

Labor shortages push growers toward H-2A program

My friend’s vineyard had never used the H-2A program for temporary workers. In the past, he could recruit enough labor locally. But longtime workers in their 70s had decided the job was too demanding, and California’s new agricultural overtime rule discouraged others. Workers knew they would make less money because employers sent them home once they hit the overtime cap.

He admitted he had considered the H-2A program, but neighbors warned him about the escalating costs and regulatory hurdles. “Not only do you pay for visas, transportation, meals or kitchens, and high wages, but you also have to provide housing,” he said.

The high cost of H-2A farmworker housing

Housing proved the biggest challenge. In Sonoma County, open land costs more than $100,000 per acre. One neighbor attempted to build worker housing but was blocked after local residents opposed farmworkers in their community.

A state farmworker housing grant program could help, but unions successfully pushed lawmakers to bar the money from being used for housing H-2A workers. Neighbors argued that H-2A employees took jobs from domestic workers. “If that was the case,” my friend said, “why hasn’t a single domestic worker applied for the advertised jobs?”

A national problem with California twists

His concerns mirror those I’ve heard across the country, though California growers face additional pressures. I advised him to contact his congressional representatives and senators to push for solutions. Agriculture needs relief from burdensome labor challenges.

Despite my waking him and raising his frustration, my friend thanked me. He promised to call lawmakers and said he appreciated my prayers. “Maybe I can make it another year,” he told me.

Written by Michael Marsh

— Michael Marsh has led the National Council of Agricultural Employers since 2017. A Wyoming native and certified public accountant, Marsh worked for a CPA firm with farm and ranch clients investigating fraud. He was director of finance for the Almond Board of California for 7 years and for 15 years was CEO of the largest U.S. dairy producer trade association.