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Farmworkers
The farmworker community is very diverse, made up of different racial and ethnic groups, both male and female, adults and children,
who have in common "agriculture" as their occupation. They work long hours, sometimes under adverse weather conditions, to prepare, cultivate, and til the soil, plant and harvest crops,
and process crops for market or storage.
They may work in fields, nurseries, greenhouses, and reforestation. They may harvest fruit and vegetable
crops, wild plants, and Christmas tress. They may be migrant, H2A, or seasonal.
Migrant workers are individuals who are required to be absent overnight from a permanent place of residence
for the purpose of seeking employment in agricultural work and who have been so employed within the last 24 months.
Migrant farmworkers may travel from other states "following-the-crop" or come from other countries as a guest worker
with an H-2A contract or documented families.
Migrant farmworkers recruited from other countries to do agricultural work in the United States under the
H-2A program are known as H-2A guest workers. The U.S. Department of Labor makes available
temporary visas under the H-2A Agricultural Program to allow farmers who anticipate a shortage of
domestic workers, to bring non-immigrant, foreign guest workers legally to the United States to perform
agricultural work for a season. North Carolina is by far the largest user of this type of temporary agricultural
visa with over 8,000 H-2A workers.
The North Carolina Growers Association is one of the oldest institutions to bring H-2A workers to the
state. In recent years, more entities like the Growers Association are emerging to provide workers to
North Carolina farmers. Migrant farmworkers who work for the same grower year after year may bring
family members and friends, as the labor needs demand.
Some farmworkers come with and work for a crew leader, an individual who works independently to
recruit workers from other countries or states to work as farm labor. These individuals often serve as a
middleman between the farmworker and the farmer, providing transportation, labor, housing, and other
services for a fee. Crew leaders must have a license to employ farmworkers. Those found violating labor
or housing regulations, if reported, will lose their license.
To learn more about the H-2A Agricultural Visa Program visit the US Department of Agriculture website
at http://www.usda.gov/oce/labor/laws.htm
Seasonal farmworkers are individuals who are employed in agricultural work but do not move from
their permanent residence to seek agricultural work. They may work in agricultural at least 50% of their time
and also have other sources of employment during the non-agricultural season.
A migrant agricultural worker is an individual whose principal employment is in agriculture,
who has been so employed within the last 24 months, and who travels and establishes a temporary
place of residence for the purpose of such employment .
Migrant farmworkers may be employed by the farm owner, by crew leaders,
or by H-2A contract. They may travel from other states "following-the-crop" or
come from other countries, like Mexico, as a guestworker.
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