Farmers and ranchers from multiple states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma are all affected by farm labor shortages. The U.S. agricultural workforce fell by 155,000, about 7%, between March and July. That’s according to figures provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. And as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports, as much as 73% of farms in the United States depend on immigrant workers, with 42% of all farmworkers deemed unauthorized immigrants.
That matches data from the Pew Research Center which also shows total immigrant labor fell by 750,000 from January through July. This labor shortage only serves to exacerbate what has already transformed 2025 into a nightmare scenario for U.S. farmers, thanks to a perfect storm of converging factors, from rising farming costs, and plummeting market prices, to new tariff disputes, especially China’s decision to stop buying American soybeans, for example. Now many of those farmers and ranchers have joined in a campaign to raise awareness about labor shortages that they say are have a negative impact on generational family farms.
As Texas Public Radio reports, the campaign highlights an issue that has producers and economists concerned about higher food prices across the country. Zach Rutledge is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics at Michigan State University who spoke for the Grow It Here campaign. He says about half of U.S. farmers face some kind of labor shortage. “This issue of the domestic labor supply has implications for US consumers and also affects the trade balance in the U.S.”
Farmers say lowering costs for employing temporary foreign workers could help. But some say they still rely on immigrants who can work year round. The U.S. Labor Dept. has warned that a worker shortage is quote “threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices.”
The H-2A visa program is what some describe as a ‘partial solution’ to farm labor shortages. It allows employers to hire foreign workers for temporary seasonal jobs. But challenges, such as bureaucratic delays, changing regulations, and other red tape is seen by critics as riddled with violations and abuse.
