Apple farm highlights H2A hurdles and calls for unified digital process
Meeting labor needs is one of the biggest challenges in American agriculture. Rising production costs make dependable labor even more important for fruit and vegetable farms. In western North Carolina, an apple grower stresses that staffing shortages directly limit harvests and income.
Apples are still picked by hand. This grower’s operation produces about six and a half million pounds each year, and every bin depends on skilled workers in the orchard. There is no machine that can fully replace the careful hands required to harvest quality fruit on time. Like many specialty crop farms, labor is both labor intensive and time sensitive.
Securing that labor through the H2A visa program is often difficult. The grower suggests straightforward improvements. First, consolidate responsibility to one overseeing agency to reduce confusion and delays. Second, create a centralized digital system that is simple for farmers to use on their own. This would lessen the cost of hiring farm labor contractors and help keep applications moving. Today, multiple agencies and paper steps can slow approvals and leave crews in limbo when harvest windows are short.