News

Demand for H-2A workers on the rise

More farmers are tuning to the H-2A guest worker program as a source of seasonal labor, a lot more.

The Department of Labor reports requests for workers has increased by more than 160 percent over the past five years. For the third quarter of this year, the department certified more than 81,000 positions.

Bob Boehm with Great Lakes Ag Labor Services says requests in Michigan are close to the national trend which has increased about 20 percent in the past year. He says even if Congress can’t address the bigger immigration reform issue, improvements to the current program are desperately needed, given the growth trends.

The Department of Labor is currently on pace to certify more than 240,000 guest workers this year, which is up about 40,000 from the record set last year.