Ag Sector Focuses on Seasonal Worker Costs as Deportations Loom

The US agricultural industry is banking on the incoming Trump administration to slow rising labor costs from hiring workers on seasonal work visas.

The optimism comes despite promises of mass deportation that could ensnare many workers and add more pressure on a temporary visa program that employers say isn’t nimble enough to meet the needs of farmers now.

Farm employers spent much of the past few years waging court battles with the Biden administration over a slew of H-2A regulations boosting minimum pay, working conditions, and protections for workplace organizing.

Trade groups say those regulations made the program more burdensome, ...