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Congressional Research Service
Inforrning the legislative cdebate since 1914
S
April 30, 2025
Work Authorization Among Hired Agricultural Workers
Agricultural workers can be hired for a variety of positions
on farms and ranches, including hand harvesting, operating
specialized equipment, or management functions. Farms
may hire workers directly and/or use Farm Labor
Contractors to supply workers. The number of hired
agricultural workers often varies seasonally based on the
local climate and the crop being grown.
This In Focus describes the work authorization status of the
hired (not self-employed) agricultural workforce, which is
comprised of hired farm and ranch workers authorized to
work in the United States (e.g., U.S. citizens, lawful
permanent residents [LPRs], temporary foreign workers on
H-2A visas), and those without legal work authorization.
CRS calculations based on recent estimates of employment
and work authorization status for agricultural workers show
approximately 27% of hired agricultural workers are
citizens, 16% are in the United States on H-2A visas, 22%
have other work authorization, and 35% have no legal work
authorization. These estimates would mean that in 2024, of
an estimated 1.93 million hired agricultural workers, about
680,000 did not have work authorization.
Size of the Hired Agricultural Workforce
Hired agricultural workers in the United States are
measured in different ways in different federal statistical
sources. This In Focus uses employment figures from the
Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS's) Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW) because it covers
employment in Crop Production and Animal Production
(such as on ranches and dairy farms), as well as
employment by Farm Labor Contractors. It does not include
self-employed farmers, ranchers, or independent contractor
workers in agriculture.
The QCEW includes employer-reported counts of
employment for workers covered by Unemployment
Insurance (UI). In every state, agricultural employers are
required to participate in UI if they pay total wages to all
employees of $20,000 or more in any quarter of the current
or preceding year or if they employ 10 or more workers on
at least one day in each of 20 different weeks in the current
or preceding year. This requirement means only agricultural
employers with relatively low employment levels are
excluded from the QCEW. In addition, several states extend
UI coverage to agricultural employers at lower thresholds
than required by federal law. BLS estimates 300,000 hired
U.S. agricultural workers are not included in the QCEW.
As shown in Figure 1, employment in the Crop Production
and Support Activities for agriculture and forestry
subsectors (which includes Farm Labor Contractors) is
highly seasonal, with higher employment levels in the
summer than the winter. Employment in the Animal
Production subsector tends to be relatively stable year-
https://crsreport
round. The Animal Production subsector cannot make much
use of the H-2A visa program because H-2A visas are
issued only for temporary or seasonal agricultural work.
Figure I. Agricultural Employment in the QCEW
July 2022-June 2024, by subsector
QCEW Employment
700,000
600,000
500,000
300,000
200,000
100,000 -
Support,Activities
for agriculture
and forestry (115)
production and
aguaculture
S 0 00 0 0 0
o r4. t N- 0 ,- n
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of
Employment and Wages (QCEW).
Notes: North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS)
codes are in parentheses. Excludes H-2A and other workers who are
not covered by Unemployment Insurance (UI). Does not show
employment for the 5% of agricultural workers covered by UI who
work in the Forestry (113) or Hunting and Fishing (114) subsectors.
H-2A Workers in the QCEW
Foreign agricultural workers temporarily working in the
United States on H-2A visas are included in the QCEW in
some states but not others, based on whether or not they are
covered by UI. There are 16 states that include H-2A
workers in the UI program (e.g., California, Virginia) and
34 states that exclude H-2A workers from the UI program
(e.g., Louisiana, Michigan).
The number of H-2A visas issued each year is available
from the U.S. Department of State, but State Department
data do not specify the states in which these H-2A workers
are employed. Data on the worksite locations for requested
workers are available from employers' H-2A petitions to
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but there are
more workers on approved employer petitions to bring in
H-2A workers than H-2A visas issued.
The geographic distribution of workers requested in
approved H-2A petitions suggests approximately 35% of H-
2A workers in FY2024 were in states where H-2A workers
were covered by UI. Using visa issuances to approximate
H-2A worker totals in FY2024, about 111,000 H-2A
workers were included and 203,000 were not included in
QCEW employment totals for the agricultural sector.
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