A bill recently introduced by U.S. Rep. G.T. Thompson (Pennsylvania-15) making changes to the accessibility and cost of agricultural labor has wide support from growers who utilize H-2A visa program workers, including in Colorado. The H-2A program hasn’t been statutorily reformed in 40 years. It is widely used in Colorado by producers with seasonal labor needs — peach growers, produce growers, sheep growers — and most operations that utilize those workers have the same group of employees return each year, oftentimes hiring generations of the same family. 

The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA) expands the H-2A program and allows non-immigrant foreign workers to work year-round, controls cost to lend security to employers and is meant to streamline the interactions of the government agencies administering the program. 

The H-2A program originated in 1952 and has long been criticized as antiquated, unreformed since 1986. That year, U.S. farmers were slogging through the domestic Farm Crisis with only the first signs of improvements in terms of stability. Agricultural production was stagnant, farm foreclosures were still at record highs, farmland values were in the basement, and people were leaving agriculture in droves. Though there were indications by that point the worst was over, farmers were still unsure if the light they could see at the end of the tunnel was daylight or an oncoming train. The good news reported by year’s end was the net farm income was only modestly lower than in the year previous, and farm assets declined at a slower rate than the year before and farm net worth declined at a slower rate than in 1985.  

That year the Dairy Termination Program was also introduced which closed the gates of dairies and caused a steep temporary fall in cattle and hog prices. It was a whole herd buyout program that sent entire dairy herds to slaughter in return for payment equal to the amount of milk each cow would have produced over a year. The five-year program was meant to cure surplus milk production and low prices. It did that, but it carried real price consequences for cattle and hog producers. 

H-2A is unique because it specifies the terms and conditions of employment of foreign workers and requires the employees perform only agricultural work, and employers must provide housing, transportation, program costs,and pay wages at or above Department of Labor regulations. The DOL regulations separate range positions, like sheep herders, who don’t work on a regular workday or week and non-range, like produce harvesters. 

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall called labor the largest limiting factor in American agriculture. In a statement, Duvall said the 415,000 advertised agriculture jobs advertised in 2025 received 182 domestic applications. This lack of interest in ag labor drives the need for employers to utilize the H-2A program, but it has failed to keep pace with the industry. Dave Puglia of Western Growers said member growers need H-2A workers, but the program remains difficult and expensive to access the dependable and legal workforce needed. 

From 2018 to 2025, the national average Adverse Effect Wage Rate that drives H-2A wages increased from $12.20 to $17.74, a 45% increase which outpaced the 28% inflation rate over the same period. It is just one of the inputs that has plagued producers in recent years. This is due, of course, to the inability of farmers to raise their prices as they are price takers, not price makers. SAWA would cap year-over-year growth and eliminate mid-contract changes and stabilize the unpredictability that has made the program difficult to use. 

The Act would allow workers to remain on the job for up to 350 days. This change would allow dairies, which have consistent milking needs, to utilize the program as well. No matter the crop, the work doesn’t begin and end during harvest, so this change is significant. 

Additionally, SAWA directs the Departments of Labor, Homeland Security, and State to create an online platform as a single access point for the various state agencies, employers, and employees. The Act also designates H-2A workers as essential, which will curb government funding disruptions from crippling the program’s ability to function. 

It is time for updates and changes to the H-2A program, especially in light of labor bills and laws like Colorado’s Farm Worker Bill of Rights complicating labor and serving as an additional stumbling block. A country unable to feed itself is a country unable to defend itself. With only .07% of ag jobs advertised in 2025 attracting a domestic applicant, changes are needed to simplify the process of utilizing affordable, dependable labor through the H-2A program. 

Rachel Gabel writes about agriculture and rural issues. She is an assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine, the region’s preeminent agricultural publication.