Many employers turn to the federal government’s H-2A visa program for seasonal guest agriculture workers, despite complaints that its regulations are complex and burdensome. Roth said his family’s businesses use about 330 H-2A workers and expect to hire more in the coming season between November and spring. The only limit is how many workers employers can find in countries such as Mexico who are willing to work in the U.S. for several months. The use of H-2A workers has exploded nationwide, to 371,000 last year from 47,000 in 2005. “It’s made labor-intensive farming very, very expensive and very, very complicated," said Paul Meador, a grower based in LaBelle who employs more than 2,000 H-2A workers for his farming and logistics businesses.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 04, 2023 12:39 UTC