Agriculture Labor Reform Now: A Long Overdue Lifeline for the Potato Industry

Following President Trump’s successful actions to secure the U.S. border, agriculture champions in the House of Representatives are following through on a long-stated agreement with U.S. agriculture. Specifically, that deal held that once the security of our southern border was achieved, Republicans in Congress would be able to take on long-needed agriculture labor reforms.

In that pursuit, just before the Fourth of July, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa) introduced the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill that would deliver comprehensive reform to a broken labor system.

For the U.S. potato industry, this legislation arrives not a moment too soon. Our current agricultural guestworker framework dates back to 1986. In the 40 years since its inception, agriculture has transformed, yet federal regulations have remained frozen in time.

This regulatory stagnation has created an unprecedented labor crisis. National H-2A program participation skyrocketed from 100,000 positions in 2013 to 400,000 in 2025. What’s telling about the need for outside labor is that, despite mandatory local advertising, fewer than 400 domestic workers applied for those positions nationwide.

Ongoing labor shortages hit close to home for U.S. potato growers. On a recent episode of the Eye on Potatoes Podcast (“How the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act Protects the Potato Supply Chain”), I joined Brett Jensen, a third-generation grower in Idaho Falls and National Potato Council Vice President of Trade Affairs, who has used the H-2A program for nearly 30 years. Guestworkers have provided a stable, reliable labor force that has allowed his operation to grow. Jensen now employs a second generation of workers, with fathers bringing their sons to work on the farm.

Despite living in an area of 100,000 people, Jensen told us that domestic applicants simply do not exist. In over three decades of posting job notices in local papers, only one domestic applicant ever inquired about a job posting – and then never showed up for the interview.

Even for experienced producers, the current system creates intense friction. Last year, random border checks held up several of Jensen’s 25-year veteran employees for 10 days during a critical production window.

The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act was designed to fix these vulnerabilities by focusing on three pillars: expanding access, controlling costs and streamlining processes.

On the pillar of expanding access, the bill removes the outdated seasonality requirement. It redefines eligible labor as temporary work of 350 days or less, opening the program to year-round operations. Crucially for our industry, the bill also expands access to packing sheds that handle commodities in their natural state, regardless of the facility’s location or ownership. This change will immediately relieve operational pressure on the 30 to 35 packing sheds in Idaho and dozens more nationwide that constantly struggle to remain fully staffed.

To help control costs, the bill provides predictability. Between 2018 and 2025, the national Adverse Effect Wage Rate surged 45% from $12.20 to $17.74 per hour, outstripping inflation by 70%. The new bill limits annual wage fluctuations to a maximum 3.5% increase or 1.5% decrease, codifying the predictable wage methodology introduced by the Trump Administration.

Finally, the legislation helps streamline the process by, among other things, eliminating duplicative paperwork. Growers currently waste months mailing physical documents between state and federal agencies. The bill mandates a single, centralized online platform for all employer-agency interactions. It also transfers the authority to define agricultural labor from the Department of Labor to the Department of Agriculture, ensuring that agricultural experts interpret the rules.

As we in the agriculture industry know, consumers are blessed with fully stocked grocery store shelves but are not entitled to them. If we fail to secure the hands that harvest our crops, Americans will face empty shelves and greater reliance on foreign food imports.

With our borders finally secure and 50 original bipartisan co-sponsors backing this bill, NPC is urging Congress to act on the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act to protect our family farms and safeguard America’s food supply.