For three years, the same temporary worker from Mexico has returned to operate and maintain machinery on Kami Van Horn’s small family farm in Yuma.

The family loves his experience and hard work.

But this year — as it was for many Arizona farmers — the laborer’s work visa was delayed with no warning and little explanation.

“We were supposed to have our employee arrive on March 8, but he didn’t get here until April 26,” she said.

“It was frustrating for him because he was planning to come and complete his contract. And it was frustrating for us because we didn’t have the labor when we really needed it.”

That’s just one of the problems with H-2A, the federal government’s temporary agricultural worker program, that a new reform effort aims to address.

H-2A is not open to all in agriculture

H-2A is a lifeline for many farmers.

It was created in 1986 to fill seasonal agricultural job shortages without compromising the jobs and wages of domestic workers in similar positions.

Foreign laborers can work for up to 10 months a year in the U.S. before returning to their home countries.

Arizona’s H-2A use consistently ranks in the top 10 nationwide. Nearly 14,000 positions were certified statewide last fiscal year, a 62% increase since 2020.

Yet only certain agricultural sectors can participate. The dairy industry — which produces Arizona’s top commodity by cash receipts — has long been shut out of the system, despite also facing severe labor shortages.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recently clarified that dairies can use the program if they can demonstrate a need for temporary or seasonal labor.

But few examples offered during a recent webinar apply to dairies in Arizona, said Jim Boyle, a Casa Grande dairy operator and Arizona Farm Bureau member.

“At least it’s been recognized that we need help,” he said. “But this is not the fix that we’ve been needing. Our work isn’t seasonal. We need year-round access to labor.”

The program is complex and expensive

Many agricultural jobs — including harvesters, irrigators, equipment operators and general laborers — are becoming increasingly difficult to fill.

Domestic workers filled just 0.04% of the 415,000 temporary agricultural jobs advertised nationwide last fiscal year.

But using H-2A to fill these jobs can be notoriously complex, inflexible and expensive.

The federal government certifies employers to hire a certain number of foreign workers, once employers prove that there is no domestic labor to fill the jobs.

Those workers are then vetted for temporary visas in a process that is neither transparent nor predictable.

When processing is delayed — as many Arizona farmers experienced earlier this year — there is little flexibility to change employment contracts or move labor to where it’s most needed.

As a result, Arizona Farm Bureau President John Boelts lost nearly 15,000 cartons of cantaloupe when his harvesting crew failed to receive its visas on time.

With no labor to help when it was most needed, the fast-ripening fruit wasted away in his fields, and he ended the season in a financial loss.

Housing costs dig into bottom lines

Arizona is one of 21 states with a minimum wage for agricultural jobs.

In addition to paying that base rate, farmers are largely on the hook for temporary workers’ transportation, meals and housing.

It’s a lot to balance for a small farm such as Van Horn’s, which grows lemons and alfalfa. The farm could use another two to three steady hands.

But domestic workers never stay for long, and the cost of finding additional housing units makes it tough to secure more H-2A workers.

“We’ve got crops that need to be harvested and trees that need to be pruned,” said Van Horn, a food safety expert who helps on the farm when she’s not at her day job.

“And then our other employees must absorb that work. Or there are things that don’t get done, or don’t get done on the timeline that’s best for the crop. It’s frustrating.”

What the reform bill would do

Fortunately, U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson has spent the last two years collecting feedback about H-2A’s shortcomings.

His newly introduced reform bill aims to accomplish three things:

  • Lower costs by simplifying complex wage calculations and allowing employers to offset more housing and transportation costs.
  • Expand use by making dairy operators, foresters and others eligible for the program, and by extending temporary labor contracts to 350 days.
  • Modernize H-2A by streamlining cumbersome processes and creating a single online portal to submit necessary paperwork.

The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act offers more flexibility to move workers from one farm to the other, and to harvest more than one crop.

And it offers more predictability once employers file petitions to bring in foreign workers, requiring a yes, no or request for more information within 15 days.

It’s the first attempt at comprehensive reform in years — and unlike previous attempts, has garnered wide support among agricultural groups.

“We’ve suffered regulatory whiplash for years,” Boelts said. “But this bill fixes so many things. All we’re asking for is the essential labor to grow the crops you eat every day.”


Joanna Allhands writes about water, land use and other issues important to the Arizona Farm Bureau. Reach her at joannaallhands@azfb.org.