Labor is always a big issue for the fresh produce industry, and 2025 was no different. Not only did perennial problems come to a head in some cases, but the return of Donald Trump to the presidency in January 2025 kicked off a slew of highly impactful events for all agricultural labor that hit produce hard.
The issues that dominated headlines in 2025 will without question continue into 2026. For example, in the final installment of her year-long labor series, The Packer’s Christina Herrick reported that the labor policy shifts made in 2025 will define farm labor in 2026.
The series kicked off in early February, exploring the current state of labor in the fresh produce industry. In the first installment of the series, Herrick reports chronic problems with the H-2A program, including complexity and cost, are weighing on growers along with the growing issue of declining numbers of ag workers. She also highlights research showing that as much as 99% of tree fruit growers’ net returns went to costs associated with labor.
“We knew it was bad,” a source said. “I’m not sure we knew it was this bad.”
The second installment of the series, released in mid-March, focused on the individual impact of the cost of the H-2A and the Adverse Effect Wage Rate. For one source, the climbing costs of the program meant that the operation would stop its asparagus production altogether.
“It just doesn’t make [financial] sense anymore,” he said.
Much like the asparagus grower in March, an apple grower told Herrick in mid-May the overtime laws for ag labor make it almost impossible to farm.
“With having to pay overtime to harvest [second-pick organic galas], it would have cost us more,” the source said. “We would have gone negative on our return. We would have picked that fruit and then actually gotten a bill [for the labor].”
In the series’ final installment in early August, Herrick did a deep dive into the backbone of ag labor: the farmworkers. Reflecting back on the events of the pandemic, sources pointed out how essential they are to the country and everyone in it who eats.
“If agriculture stops, what are we all going to eat?” one farmworker asked. “We are essential all the time because no one else but those of us who work in agriculture know what it takes to work in that field.”
Getting into the legislative details of AEWR
When it comes to ag labor, the laws and their litigative legacies will likely have big impacts on life on the ground for produce growers and workers alike.
In late August, a federal court in Louisiana reversed the Department of Labor’s 2023 AEWR Methodology rule. Herrick broke down what the ruling means to the fresh produce industry; in short, to potentially bring stability to agricultural employers. In the words of one of her sources, “This is a big deal.”
While helpful, the ruling did not solve all the issues surrounding ag worker wages in the U.S. Key among these is that, “it’s critical for wages to fall in line with other countries, where lower wages outside the U.S. can drive out American production,” says Herrick’s source.
In her more recent reporting on AEWR, Herrick notes the interim final rule on how AEWR will be calculated has closed, so final implementation could potentially come in 2026, pending ongoing litigation.
Labor issues will remain at the forefront of The Packer’s coverage in 2026. You can find past and future stories on labor here.
