H-2A program

The tickborne illness alpha-gal syndrome affects what you can eat. For those who contract it, mealtime becomes a minefield. Plus: American agriculture depends on foreign workers, but President Donald Trump’s immigration clampdown is shrinking a farm workforce that many say was already too small.

The U.S. agricultural industry depends on undocumented immigrants, but President Trump’s immigration crackdown is further depleting an already tight workforce. The labor crisis may be setting the stage for big changes to a federal program that allows foreign workers into the country legally.

Contractors say they have enough local labor to detassel Nebraska’s seed corn but they’re losing work to migrant workers on H-2A visas. A 2024 law attempted to increase transparency in detasseling.

Last year more than 378,000 workers were authorized for H-2A visas, or temporary agriculture positions, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Labor. In 2012, it was less than a third of that.