Positions certified for the use of seasonal agricultural visas – known as H-2A visas – grew in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023-September 2024) by less than 2% for the second year in a row, according to recently released Department of Labor data. There were, however, notable decreases in certified positions in top H-2A employer states. Rising costs and new regulations have slowed the explosive growth we have seen over the last decade. Continuous growth in the program at large reflects a shift in the domestic workforce away from agriculture, despite a continued need for reliable farm labor.
Domestic workforce
The American labor force available for agricultural employment has grown limited. We continue to see lower workforce participation than before the pandemic and a low unemployment rate. While the U.S. labor force has grown by more than 12 million people in the last 10 years, declining fertility rates and large retirement pressures have slowed the labor force growth rate from 1.3% per year to only half a percent in the past 20 years. The official U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1% in October 2024, less than a percentage point higher than the pre-pandemic rate of 3.5%, and lower than the 5% unemployment rate a decade ago.
The labor force participation rate – the share of all U.S. citizens between 15 and 64 who are employed or actively seeking employment – has been falling since the early 2000s, largely due to the increasing number and share of college students who do not participate in the workforce and the aging of the U.S. population. The workforce participation rate of students enrolled in two- or four-year colleges fell 13% and 9%, respectively, in the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the retirement of the "baby boomer" generation continues to outpace the entrance of new generations into the labor force, pulling down overall labor force participation. These trends squeeze both ends of the available labor force, putting domestic employment pressures on employees of prime work age (ages 25-54). These factors mean that increasing immigration has become the leading factor of workforce growth in the U.S.
Both population aging and its effect on the workforce are more dramatic in rural farm and ranch communities. Only 14% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, but over 20% of the population in rural counties are over the age of 65, compared to 16% in urban areas. The share of people in rural areas who are 55 to 64 is also above the national average, and the rural share of children under 15 is slightly higher than the national average; so, only 28% of the rural population is of prime working age compared to 38.5% of the general U.S. population. Employers in rural communities therefore struggle to maintain their labor force, slowing economic growth and restricting their ability to maintain business operations.
Americans also continue to move away from hands-on work, including farmwork, so the H-2A program has become crucial to supplementing the tight U.S. farm labor market amid a declining rural workforce. The consistent growth in applications and certifications for H-2A workers highlights the shortage of domestic farmworkers and the growing importance of immigrant labor on the farm.
To view the full report, click here.
For more information:
American Farm Bureau Federation
Tel: +1 (202) 406-3600
Email: [email protected]
www.fb.org