Sep 23, 2021

USDA report shows sharp growth in seasonal agricultural H-2A labor

The H-2A Agricultural Guest Worker program allows U.S. agricultural employers to hire foreign workers on a temporary or seasonal basis. The program rapidly expanded over the last decade, with certified H-2A positions increasing by more than 200% from 2010-19.

A recently released USDA Economic Research Service report explores how H-2A usage levels differ by agricultural sector, geography, and by the type of firm requesting workers.

What did the study find?

• The number of certified H-2A positions increased from 79,000 in 2010 to 258,000 in 2019. H-2A employment increased in most regions and sectors.

• H-2A employment growth was particularly strong in fruit and tree nuts and vegetables and melons. The combined share of H-2A positions certified in these sectors increased from 49 to 67 percent.

• H-2A employment by farm labor contractors (FLCs) expanded dramatically from 2010 to 2019. The FLC share of H-2A employment increased from 15 to 42 percent. FLC shares increased in all sectors though increases were more pronounced in fruit and tree nuts, and vegetables and melons.

• H-2A workers helped produce a wide array of labor-intensive commodities. The following commodities had the highest use of H-2A in 2019:

º Vegetables and melons (34 percent of total H-2A certifications): melons, tomatoes, lettuce, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, onions, and peppers.

º Fruit and tree nuts (33 percent): apples, blueberries, strawberries, citrus, cherries, and peaches.

º Field crops (20 percent): tobacco, seed corn, and sugarcane.

º Nursery and greenhouse (8 percent): nursery and greenhouse, Christmas trees, pine straw, and hemp.

º Animal products (4 percent): open range livestock (including sheep, goats, and cattle), bees, crawfish, and horses.

• Most employers offered to pay H-2A workers hourly wages no greater than the region-specific adverse effect wage rate (AEWR), which is a minimum wage for H-2A workers set by the Department of Labor. Inflation-adjusted H-2A wages (in 2019 dollars) increased for all sectors from 2010 to 2019, on average by 26 percent.

• From 2010 to 2019, the average duration of an H-2A labor contract decreased from 6.7 to 5.3 months, a 20 percent decline. The nursery and greenhouse, and animal products sectors showed the most pronounced decreases.

• In 2019, H-2A employment was highest in States heavy in fruit, vegetable, and melon production such as Florida, Washington, Georgia, California, and Michigan; tobacco growing States such as North Carolina and Kentucky; and crawfish and sugarcane producing States such as Louisiana. While most of the growth from 2010 to 2019 came from these large employers, H-2A employment increased in nearly every State.

• Growers in different States use the H-2A program with widely different intensities (as measured by the ratio of H-2A full-year jobs to total labor expenditures). Intensity is high in the Southeast and low in California and Texas.

– MARCELO CASTILLO, SKYLER SIMNITT, GREGORY ASTILL, AND TRAVIS MINOR, USDA ERS