A new Grow It Here report released today reveals that severe agricultural labor shortages are accelerating the financial strain facing America’s family farms and contributing to rising prices for traditional Thanksgiving foods.
According to the findings, farms across the country are struggling to secure the skilled, reliable workforce needed to harvest crops, care for livestock, and maintain year-round operations. As labor shortages worsen, growers are facing higher production costs, reduced yields, and in some cases, the difficult decision to scale back or abandon crops altogether. The result of these significant disruptions: domestic food production instability and higher prices for U.S. consumers.
“The food that we enjoy to celebrate Thanksgiving does not just happen. It is planted, cared for, harvested and delivered by people whose contributions deserve to be as much a part of the conversation as the recipes themselves,” said Linda Pryor, Grow It Here Spokesperson and Farm Manager of Hilltop Apple Farm in Hendersonville, NC. “When farms do not have enough employees to plant, harvest, and process the crops, the effects show up at the grocery store.”
The report calls for urgent policy action to modernize the agricultural workforce system and protect the long-term viability of U.S. food producers. Without meaningful reform, consumers will face continued price increases and local farming communities will bear deepening economic consequences.
