The labor situation facing specialty crop growers in the U.S. can be illustrated with a single number: 371,619.
That’s the number of H-2A temporary visas certified by the federal government in fiscal year 2022, and according to Jason Resnick, the “meteoric” rise in field and orchard workers in the program tells the true story of how a shortage of laborers is affecting fruit and vegetable growers.
Resnick, the senior vice president and general counsel of Western Growers, said the sharp increase in H-2A requests that farmers filed and were granted by the Department of Labor — an increase of more than 300% in the last decade and a doubling over the last five years — shows the severity of an ag labor shortage in the U.S.
