American Farm Bureau Federation: America’s farmers are facing a labor crisis. Continued agriculture workforce shortages threaten farmers’ ability to grow the food families rely on. Many labor challenges are addressed in new legislation introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson.The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026 builds on recommendations of the bipartisan Agricultural Labor Working Group and modernizes the H-2A visa program by expanding access to a year-round workforce and eliminating unpredictable swings in wage rates, among other changes. “The lack of available labor is among the largest limiting factors of American agriculture,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Most Americans don’t want to work on farms. In fact, only 182 domestic applications were submitted for nearly 415,000 advertised positions in 2025. If Americans won’t apply for these jobs, we have no other choice but to depend on the H-2A program. Unfortunately, the current guest worker program is inadequate to meet the demands on farms across the country. “We are grateful to Chairman G.T. Thompson for listening to America’s farmers. Farm Bureau members participated in the bipartisan House Agriculture Labor Working Group, and they shared the obstacles to participation in guest worker programs. Their needs are largely addressed in the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act. It delivers meaningful farm labor reform and will provide certainty and fairness to both farmers and their employees as they contribute to a strong and healthy food supply.”
The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act would:
- Allow temporary workers to remain on the job for up to 350 days, which gives farms like dairies greater access to the H-2A program;
- Limit excessive or irrelevant federal fees to participate in the H-2A program, which will make it more affordable for farmers;
- Codify an improved wage methodology and establish safeguards to prevent unpredictable Adverse Effect Wage Rate fluctuations; and
- Affirm H-2A workers as essential.
Farm Bureau strongly supports the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act and urges Congress to pass it. We are committed to working with lawmakers to ensure farmers have access to an adequate workforce to continue producing healthy and affordable food for America’s families.
Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), America’s largest private sector union representing 1.2 million workers in meatpacking, food processing, grocery, and other essential industries across North America, released a statement in response to House Republicans’ Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA). UFCW International President Milton Jones said: “Across the country, rural communities are powered by farm and food processing jobs. The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act will turn these stable, permanent jobs into temporary ones, leaving workers with less money to take home and spend in their local economies. “Americans are already shouldering the burden of an affordability crisis, but instead of addressing it, House Republicans would rather focus on weakening the jobs that keep our country running and put food on American families’ tables. Jobs in meatpacking and food processing and the communities that rely on them should be invested in, not demolished. Turning dependable jobs into temporary ones will threaten the livelihoods of thousands of Americans, devastate entire communities, and threaten our food supply chain.”
The Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA) today endorsed the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA), which makes commonsense reforms to modernize the H-2A visa process. “Agricultural retailers cannot serve farmers without a dependable workforce. The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA) provides practical, long-overdue reforms that will strengthen the agricultural supply chain, improve access to labor, and help ensure America’s farmers have the products and services they need when they need them,”said Hunter Carpenter, ARA Senior Director of Government Affairs. “ARA strongly supports this legislation and applauds Chairman Thompson for advancing meaningful agricultural labor reform.” SAWA contains several reforms long supported by ARA, including streamlining the H-2A application process, providing greater flexibility for year-round agricultural employment, improving worker portability, and modernizing wage requirements. These commonsense reforms will help employers access a reliable workforce while maintaining important worker protections. ARA previously sent a letter of support for this bill to Chairman Thompson, which can be found here. Read the full text of SAWA here.
