workers program helps American agricultural producers fill seasonal and temporary labor shortages with legal, foreign labor in cases where domestic labor is unavailable or in short supply.
H-2A visas are temporary, usually lasting no longer than 10 months and involve an intensive application process which must be approved by the Department of Labor (DOL).
Before a position can be filled by an H-2A worker, the employer must collaborate with their local State Workforce Agency to attempt to recruit U.S. citizens for the intended position.
In 2024, more than 380,000 H-2A workers were authorized in occupations across the U.S., according to a July 9 Farmdoc Daily article written by Christian Valencia and Nick Paulson.
In Wyoming, many sheep producers rely upon H-2A labor to fill sheepherder positions.
Streamlining application process
A final rule issued on Oct. 2 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will help streamline the application process for certain H-2A petitions by
allowing U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to begin processing electronically-filed petitions requesting unnamed H-2A temporary agricultural workers while the DOL reviews the requested employment to ensure it would not harm American workers.
With this change, USCIS can immediately begin processing electronically-filed petitions seeking unnamed beneficiaries, rather than waiting for a valid temporary agricultural labor certificate to be provided at the time of filing, which gives petitioners flexibility to file with USCIS sooner.
Overall, this change will help speed up the process for newly-filed electronic applications. However, USCIS emphasizes petitioners seeking named beneficiaries, preexisting petitions and paper-filed petitions will not be affected.
AEWR changes
The DOL also issued an interim final rule which reshapes how the hourly AEWR is calculated for H-2A visa workers employed in non-range occupations.
The new method for
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create financial and educational opportunities to leverage research to support local producers.”
Ag initiative
In his message, Gordon emphasized agriculture and energy have long been pillars of Wyoming’s economy, providing livelihoods to generations.
However, the “status quo” is currently under threat from increasing pressures like shifting markets, rising input costs, labor shortages and technological disruptions, but the Cowboy State Agricultural Initiative is meant to address these issues head on.
Through the initiative, Gordon has appointed a 13-member working group including executive branch advisors, state legislators, county commissioners, ag
association representatives, UW officials and business leaders committed to preserving Wyoming’s rich agricultural heritage and knowledge for current and future generations.
The group has been charged with developing a strategy of short- and longterm actions to support current producers, stimulate innovation, strengthen supply chains and ensure ag operations are viable for future generations.
Their investments will focus on education, applied research, improved farm and ranch management and bridging knowledge gaps.
Moving forward
The governor has set a relatively aggressive schedule for the initiative, as the working group is already scheduled to meet to draft
calculating the AEWR will affect the majority of H-2A opportunities and rely on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.
Previously, these wages were calculated on a regional basis using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Labor Survey, which was discontinued in August.
The new rule also divides AEWRs into two skill-based categories, creating two tiers of pay based on skill level and job qualifications. Some employers will also be allowed to factor in a housing adjustment and deduct appropriate expenses from an employee’s hourly wage.
Overall, the DOL estimates these changes will save farmers an average of $2.4 billion dollars per year over the next 10 years, according to an Oct. 7 American Farm Bureau Federation article by Samantha Ayoub.
Importantly, changes outlined in this IFR will only affect workers employed on an hourly basis in nonrange occupations, meaning the changes do not apply to sheepherders.
“In the H-2A program there are two types of mandated minimum wages from
proposals less than a week after this announcement.
Among possible policy to come out of the working group’s draft proposals are allocations of state funding or incentives for ag research, expansion of certificate and training programs, bolstering local processing and valueadded infrastructure, tax or bond support for capital investments and improved market access.
“Agriculture is the backbone and also a large part of the personality of Wyoming,” Wyoming Department of Agriculture Director Doug Miyamoto writes in the governor’s corresponding press release. “This is our chance to steward our industry and leave it better than we found it.”
Hannah Bugas is the managing editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
DOL – an hourly wage for non-range occupations and a monthly salary wage for range herders,” explains Mountain Plains Agricultural Service Executive Director Kelli Griffith. “Only those H-2A employers certified to employ ranch and farm hands with a mandated minimum hourly wage will be impacted by this rule change.”
Griffith further notes, due to the ongoing government shutdown, the DOL has not been able to provide further guidance regarding the IFR, and no labor certifications are being processed.
Although the amendment is expected to aid several members of the agricultural sector, sheep industry stakeholders continue to hold out hope and advocate for further reform.
H-2A and the sheep industry
In Wyoming, H-2A labor accounts for a large portion of herding jobs which are essential to the sheep industry.
Many producers would struggle to fill these jobs without H-2A labor, but at the same time, overbearing federal policies and everincreasing wage rates present challenges for producers who utilize the H-2A program.
Alison Crane, executive
director of Wyoming Wool Growers (WWGA), has been pushing for H-2A policy reform for several years.
WWGA argues, without changes to the program, wage increases and overregulation by the federal government have the potential to drive the western range sheep operator out of business in very short order.
Crane explains herders fall into their own category under the “H-2A umbrella” due to the unique nature of the job, which requires remote living conditions and constant on-call status.
For these reasons, herders are paid on a monthly basis rather than an hourly basis based on a wage rate determined by the DOL.
The current formula does not include a housing adjustment or cost-of-living considerations for the employer, leaving ranchers to foot the bill for essential items like equipment, transportation, clothing and housing for employees, in addition to steep monthly wages.
Hamilton Ranch, a family-owned Rambouillet operation in north-central Wyoming, has employed H-2A sheepherders for several years. Keith Hamilton says cumbersome regulations and high costs associated with employment
are pitfalls of the program which affect many sheep producers, but also emphasize their operation would not be able to go on without H-2A workers.
“We understand the fallacies of the H-2A program, but at the same time, we learn to work with it because it’s our only hope for getting all of our work done,” Keith comments.
Expenses for H-2A employers like the Hamiltons are exponential, and combined with unfavorable market conditions, these federal oversights increase sheep producers’ burdens immensely.
“Sheep and wool prices have not increased at the same rate as wages and the cost of living,” Crane emphasizes. “Expenses and wage rates are continuing to increase at rates a sheep producer’s income does not.”
WWGA is continuing to advocate for a wage rate formula which takes cost of living, inflation and market conditions into account, and both Crane and Keith say they are optimistic about the potential for eventual reform under the Trump administration.
Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
