H-2A programs continue to see growth in the U.S., especially as labor shortages become more pronounced. More than 400,000 H-2A workers were requested in 2025, the highest in the program history, according to a new Market Intel report released by the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF).
The main requirement for any H-2A certification is that there is no domestic worker who desires the position. With low unemployment rates, falling labor participation rates and general uninterest in agricultural labor, domestic labor shortages continue to increase, writes AFBF economist Samantha Ayoub.
Out of 415,000 positions advertised in fiscal year 2025, only 182 positions received a domestic applicant, which is less than 0.04%. A total of 398,258 positions were filled by H-2A workers in fiscal year 2025.
Demand increases
The H-2A program has grown 185% in the last 10 years, Ayoub said. While growth has lagged in the last three years, more than 13,300 additional workers were certified in 2025 compared to 2024.
Almost half of the 2025 certifications work in the top five program user states: California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Washington. Florida accounted for more than 14% of 2025 certifications and added more than 9,000 additional workers from 2024, despite a 10% increase in its Adverse Effect Wage Rate. The remaining four states actually decreased in certifications, with California certifying more than 2,000 fewer workers, the state’s third straight year of program decline.
Expansion in program use is the norm for most of the remaining states. A total of 38 states increased their demand for H-2A workers, while declines were concentrated in the Southeast and West Coast.
Changes and demand
Program regulations have made H-2A users be more specific and exclusive on their job descriptions, which drives up the number of applications each producer must submit during the year, Ayoub said. As an example, the 2023 disaggregation rule, which was vacated last August, required the highest wage to be paid based off of job duties and not the entirety of the contract. This incentivized producers to separate tasks into distinct positions, Ayoub said.
These kinds of rules caused the number of positions per application to decrease, she continued. The average number of positions per application was 19 in fiscal years 2024 and 2025, compared to 23 in 2018. Each additional application increases the processing time and producers’ costs in application fees.
“Recent changes to H-2A regulations and other deregulation efforts give employers the ability to expand contracts to cover more workers and decrease application costs, which could increase use of the H-2A program,” Ayoub said.
This includes the Department of Labor’s October interim final rule for H-2A guestworker Adverse Effect Wage Rates. H-2A employers will now pay wages based on tiers of job experience requirements and receive adjustments to offset the nonwage costs of the H-2A program, which will lower employment costs for nearly all H-2A workers, AFBF said.
The increase in demand for H-2A workers is a direct reflection of the U.S. labor force, Ayoub said. If a domestic worker applies to a job posting, regardless of whether or not they show up for work or remain for the season, that position is no longer eligible for an H-2A worker. Less than 0.04% of requested positions received a domestic applicant in fiscal year 2025.
This is partially a result of a limited U.S. labor force, Ayoub said. “While the U.S. labor force has grown by nearly 12 million people in the last 10 years, the participation rate, or share of all U.S. citizens between the ages of 15 and 64 who are employed or actively seeking employment, has been falling since the early 2000s,” she said. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.4% in September, compared to 3.5% pre-pandemic and 5% a decade ago, Ayoub added.
So long as domestic labor force trends continue and domestic workers remain uninterested in seasonal farm work, employers will continue to utilize alternative labor recruitment, she wrote. Upfront investments in mechanization are likely cost prohibitive for smaller producers, so guestworker programs are expected to remain a critical resource for U.S. food production.
The Market Intel report noted that the H-2A program is unable to meet the needs of all U.S. agriculture, especially for nonseasonal industries like dairy farming, which is unable to utilize the H-2A program due to regulatory contract limits. In addition, only 80% of positions certified receive visas to work in the U.S., which could prohibit employers from being able to meet their peak employee needs.
While the costs of utilizing the H-2A program have long been a barrier for many producers, recent regulatory changes might help correct years of uncontrolled wage inflation and nonwage costs, Ayoub concluded. “These changes, along with additional flexibility in work contract timelines and job duties, will hopefully make the H-2A program more accessible to other farmers, leading to continued growth of the program.” — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
