As H-2A Program Use Increases, Grower Returns Continue To Drop

Labor is a difficult topic in the farming community.  And perhaps the tree fruit industry serves as the best example of that. 

Kate Tynan Senior Vice President at the Northwest Horticultural Council said as producers continue to struggle to find a domestic workforce, more and more are turning to the H-2A program.  She added many people don’t appreciate the federal program is very expensive and not something that growers undertake lightly.

“And just to really hit home, that fact I mentioned, we really started seeing some growth in the program or significant growth in the program starting with 2017-2018," Tynan said.  "The NHC actually conducted a study on trends with the labor costs versus grower returns over the past decade.  And we saw that grow returns were increasing by 22% over a decade where we saw labor costs increased by 127%.”

Chavez DeRemer Understands Ag Labor

Tynan said that increase was largely driven by more employers being forced to utilize the H-2A program and all the costs that are associated with that.  She added while ag labor and the H-2A conversation can be a difficult one for growers, Tynan is optimistic about the future, thanks to the current Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez DeRemer.

“She is a former representative from Oregon, and she actually is familiar with our industry, our industry's concerns and the technical nuances of the H-2A program she's on the record in support of positive H-2A reforms.  She actually served on the House Agriculture Committees, bipartisan agricultural Labor Working Group, where she got in the weeds on a lot of the technical and structural issues with the H-2A program that are the most urgent need of reform.”

Tynan added that Chavez-DeRemer is a rare opportunity to have someone at the Department of Labor who not only understands the H2-A program, but the challenges of growers.

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