Big Grower October 2022 - 20

labor update
The Forecast for
WORKFORCE
ISSUES
Changes to H-2A may make the program
even more challenging, but there are
some glimmers of hope as the
legislature heads into the fall.
By Craig Regelbrugge
A
s a " frustrated wannabe meteorologist " who
couldn't handle the requisite physics classes,
I often turn to weather analogies to describe
dynamics in the policy space. When it comes to labor
and the horticultural workforce, the official forecast
now calls for a high probability of storms and gusty, damaging winds
through the fall, with possible peeks of sunshine after the November
midterm elections.
If you struggle with labor scarcity, you are not alone.
AmericanHort recently did a national employment survey of
growers, with the assistance of experts from the University of
California-Davis and Arizona State University. We're just beginning
to analyze the full results, yet clearly labor and workforce issues are
top-of-mind for greenhouse and nursery growers.
Roughly two-thirds of our survey respondents reported difficulty
hiring the number of workers they need. For every 100 workers
grower respondents needed in 2021 to produce at full capacity,
they were only able to find 82, forcing a wide array of response
strategies ranging from working more days/hours to investing
significantly in mechanization and automation to substituting
crops. Simply stated, with a nearly 20% labor shortage on average,
the industry is struggling - and underperforming. Economic
opportunity is being left on the table.
H-2A CHANGES COMING
Back to the proverbial forecast. Storms are on the horizon! In the
20 OCTOBER 2022
coming weeks, we are expecting not one
but two H-2A regulatory revisions. These
rule changes may make a high-cost and
often challenging program even more so.
These rulemaking initiatives
actually started during the last administration, with a
" notice of proposed rulemaking " in July 2019. At the time,
AmericanHort and others filed extensive comments pushing
back against some of the proposed changes and offering
alternatives. The Trump administration ultimately split the
H-2A rules initiative into two parts. A revised H-2A wage
rule was published in November 2020, but was blocked in the
courts and ultimately rescinded. A separate program revision
moved on a slower track and was never implemented.
Publication of the new program rule is now imminent; it may
be official by the time you are reading this. As for details, " we'll
know it when we see it, " but are bracing for bad news. Among
many potential provisions, it is likely that a new program rule
will step up the costs and burdens for H-2A labor contractors
(H2ALC). While most employers in horticulture employ H-2A
workers directly, we have seen a real uptick in the number of
growers turning to an H2ALC for help. A recent AmericanHort
employment survey suggests that about 28% of H-2A users in our
industry are using an H2ALC.
The next storm will come sometime later this fall in the form of a
second rule addressing H-2A wages. That rule is expected to require
Big Grower October 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Big Grower October 2022
