This project advances the 6TH pillar of the secretary's farmers first policy agenda: to provide all family farms with affordable and reliable labor

The Department of Agriculture Office of the Chief Economist awarded Michigan State University a $200,000 Cooperative Agreement on September 30, 2025, under the Agricultural Market and Economic Research program (CFDA 10.290) to advance the Secretary's Farmers First Policy agenda by examining critical labor market issues affecting family farms.

The project will analyze proposed legislative changes to the H-2A visa program to expand eligibility to nonseasonal farm workers in sectors such as livestock and dairy currently ineligible for the program. The recipient will develop alternative methodologies to estimate H-2A wage rates to mitigate rising labor costs and assess how immigration enforcement actions affect farm worker labor pools, including impacts on demand for H-2A workers, labor-saving mechanization adoption, and agricultural imports. Michigan State University will support farm labor conferences in California and Michigan to convene government, academic, and industry experts to discuss current and emerging labor issues and recommend market and policy options.

The project runs through September 30, 2027, with place of performance in Michigan. Deliverables include internal reports requested by the Office of the Chief Economist and peer-reviewed journal articles. The Office of the Chief Economist is exercising noncompetitive award authority under 7 U.S.C. § 3318(e) for this agreement.

Many farmers struggle with finding adequate numbers of laborers and rising costs of wages. The information and analyses derived from this project are expected to inform USDA policy decisions that will benefit farmers and enable the AG labor coordinator to respond quickly to osec questions about AG labor issues. The project will examine several facets of the U.S. Agricultural labor market including: 1) proposed legislative changes to the h-2A visa program that could expand eligibility to some non-seasonal farm workers and address labor shortages - this is particularly critical for AG sectors like livestock and dairy, since nonseasonal AG employers are currently ineligible for the h-2A visa program; 2) alternative methodologies to estimate the h-2A wage rate that will mitigate rising labor costs associated with the program, which addresses farm employer complaints about the cost of the h-2A program; and 3) the effects of immigration enforcement on farm worker labor pools- including increasing demand for h-2A workers, labor-saving mechanization, and imports as enforcement actions shrink the number of unauthorized workers. The project will support farm labor conferences in california and michigan - two very diverse agricultural states - to convene local and national experts from government, academia, and industry to discuss current and emerging farm labor issues and recommendations for market and policy options. Results from the project include internal reports as requested, and peer-reviewed journal articles. OCE will exercise authority under 7 U.S.c 3318 (e) to award this noncompetitive cooperative agreement.