November/December 2024
Tree nut grower labor survey reveals insights on automation, wage requirements and more
Compared to some other agricultural sectors, U.S. tree nut growers are not experiencing the same labor shortages that other farmers are dealing with, and that is a positive for the industry.
During the summer, National Nut Grower conducted a labor survey with growers of almonds, pecans, pistachios, hazelnuts and walnuts. Of those surveyed, a majority (80%) noted other crops are also grown, which included tree fruits (12%) and vegetables (10%), with many mentioning alfalfa, hay and wheat.
The survey responses indicated 76% of tree nut growers reported having enough labor in 2023, while 24% did not. These results, compared to other ag labor surveys conducted this year by National Nut Grower’s parent company, Great American Media Services (GAMS), are positive. For instance, the fruit and vegetable survey conducted earlier this year by GAMS indicated that 46% of growers surveyed experienced labor shortages.
The survey also pointed out that compared to other ag segments, U.S. tree nut growers are not utilizing the H-2A program as often as other farmers that GAMS surveyed. In this survey, only 6% of those surveyed are using H-2A, while in the fruit and vegetable farmers survey, 49% said H-2A was being utilized.
The tree nut industry also differs from its ag counterparts in that out of the 8% of growers using H-2A, 73% of respondents said that they would not outsource the H-2A process.
In the tree nut sector, automation is key to crop production and harvesting and survey results indicated that nearly half of the respondents would use automation to combat labor shortfalls this year. Automation priorities were water/irrigation management (48%) and harvesting (41%), according to the survey.
Overall, the survey highlights concerns over increasing cost of wages and finding skilled labor. Additionally, respondents indicated several other challenges, including regulatory pressures, housing for workers and labor reliability.
“Harder, manual labor is not easily employed in today’s day and age. You need high profit margins and a much larger production to keep up with wages of the needed labor force. This simply isn’t possible for most farmers, growers and ag producers,” said one survey respondent. Another survey participant echoed concerns over wages, saying the rise in wages is killing them. Other concerns included the “new overtime laws in California that are hurting us the most,” and: “Until the government shuts down the programs for workers, and they have to find jobs, we are just stuck.”
Overall, the majority of written responses indicated concerns about the future of farming due to labor issues, rising costs, regulatory burdens and smaller farms being bought out by corporate entities.
