By Diane Kurrle and Lynsee Gibbons, U.S. Apple Association
For more than 20 years, agriculture labor reform has been the U.S. Apple Association’s top legislative priority. Working in partnership with other labor-intensive agricultural groups, we have consistently advocated for congressional action to modernize the H-2A guest-worker program and better meet the workforce needs of U.S. agriculture.
The last major overhaul of the nation’s agricultural labor system occurred in 1986. Since then, the industry has changed significantly. The domestic workforce has declined, farming methods and economics have evolved, and the H-2A agricultural guest-worker program has expanded dramatically, despite remaining largely unchanged in structure. As a result, the system that growers depend on to secure a legal workforce has not kept pace with the industry’s changing needs.
The numbers tell the story. In 2015, U.S. employers received certifications for nearly 140,000 H-2A positions. By 2024, that number had climbed to approximately 385,000 — a 175 percent increase in less than a decade. Apple growers are particularly dependent on the program.
That is why the introduction of the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA) is such a significant moment for U.S. apple growers. It would achieve the kind of practical, durable labor reform growers have been asking Congress to deliver for decades.
For the apple industry, this is not an abstract policy debate. It is about whether family farms can continue producing apples in the United States.
Growing apples remains extraordinarily labor intensive. A long growing season culminates at the most labor-intensive stage of all: harvest. There is no commercially viable, mechanical technology capable of replacing the crews needed to hand-harvest billions of pounds of apples during a narrow window each year.
Reliance on the H-2A program has grown despite rising costs and complexity that have become increasingly difficult for apple growers to absorb.
Labor accounts for roughly 60 percent of apple production costs. Over the past five years, the national average Adverse Effect Wage Rate, or AEWR, increased about 30 percent — well beyond the kind of incremental wage increases businesses typically plan for. And wages are only one component of the expense. H-2A employers also provide housing and transportation, and they pay visa, recruitment, application and compliance costs. In Washington, research has estimated those additional fixed costs at roughly $4.50 per worker per hour.
SAWA, introduced by House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson, a Republican representative from Pennsylvania, begins to address those realities.
Perhaps most importantly, the legislation would make lasting reforms to the methodology for determining the H-2A wage rate, modeled after key elements of the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) interim final rule published in October 2025. In August 2026, a federal judge ordered USDOL to develop a new wage methodology as part of a legal challenge to the rule.
That court decision underscores the urgency to codify reforms and provide long-term certainty through legislation.
SAWA limits year-over-year wage fluctuations to no more than a 3.5 percent increase or 1.5 percent decrease, helping protect growers from sudden and significant swings in labor costs. Importantly for Washington state growers, SAWA eliminates the prevailing wage. It also establishes a standardized housing adjustment that recognizes the significant cost employers incur to provide housing for H-2A workers. Putting these reforms into law would provide growers with something that has been sorely lacking: predictability.
For any business, the ability to anticipate and plan for costs is critical. For apple growers making long-term investments in orchards, where labor is the largest production expense, it is essential.
SAWA would also allow packing facilities to employ H-2A workers, including at times when packing fruit from multiple growers. It modernizes and streamlines the administrative process, including the creation of a centralized online platform for interactions between employers and federal agencies. It would clarify agency responsibilities, reduce duplication and provide growers with greater flexibility to respond to the realities of agricultural production.
SAWA would also expand H-2A access to employers with year-round labor needs, such as dairy producers, mushroom growers and controlled-environment growers.
No legislation will solve every challenge confronting American agriculture, and introduction of a bill is only the beginning of the legislative process. We know that from experience.
USApple strongly supported the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, which passed the House of Representatives twice, most recently in 2021. Apple growers spent years advocating for that legislation and helping build support for meaningful reform. Ultimately, momentum stalled in the Senate as other national priorities overtook the congressional agenda.
That experience gives us a clear-eyed view of the work ahead. It also underscores why this moment matters.
SAWA has brought together congressional leaders and agricultural organizations around reforms that address the most persistent workforce challenges: access, affordability and administrative complexity. Its introduction with 50 bipartisan co-sponsors, broad support across agriculture and significant media attention provides a strong foundation from which support can continue to grow.
We also know that achieving meaningful agricultural labor reform requires us to speak with a strong, unified voice.
That is why USApple is playing an active role in the Agriculture Workforce Coalition, working alongside organizations representing producers across American agriculture to build support for SAWA. Together, we’ve also launched a grassroots campaign to help members of Congress and the current administration understand how critical SAWA is to farmers, growers, ranchers and the communities that depend on a strong agricultural economy.
We need an agricultural workforce policy that recognizes a simple reality: If we want food grown in America, we need a legal, reliable and economically sustainable workforce to help grow and harvest it. •
