News

Thompson says new ag labor bill expands H-2A Access for dairy

House Ag Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson says his new ag labor bill opens the door for U.S. dairy farmers to have access to the H-2A program.

Thompson says it’s all about how temporary ag labor is defined.

“Temporary is defined as anything less than 350 days a year, renewable for three years, by the way. So it provides for, you know, for certainty to bring these temporary employees in, you know, for a significant amount of time.”

The CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation Gregg Doud says the new structure is workable for dairy operations, if labor can be rotated.

“Folks have to take a couple weeks on an annual basis and the way they’ve set this up is you do that for three years running,” he says. “At the end of that three years you have to leave for six weeks. I think that’s very reasonable. Our membership at National Milk has looked at this and said, you know what, we think we can actually make this work.”

Doud says the USDA’s recent attempt to adjust H-2A regulations for dairy fell short because it didn’t address the industry’s need for year-round workers.

Doud says the attempt to reduce H-2A program costs is also positive. Even with the updates, however, he says there’s no guarantee every dairy will participate or find the program practical.

“What this does is in terms of workforce for dairy farmers, this increases greatly your pool of folks.”

The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026 must pass Congress before any of these changes go into effect. It is expected to be considered by the House Judiciary Committee, and it’s unclear when the bill might be considered.

Thompson tells Brownfield his confidence the bill can move through Congress is based on its broad support, and urgency in relation to food security. There’s also time on the calendar after the election.

“In November and December, before the next Congress takes place, there’s also usually pieces of legislation that are at the end of the year or must pass pieces of legislation. That perhaps this could ride on one of those.”

In a statement, House Ag Committee Ranking Member Angie Craig says the bill takes steps in the right direction to help ag labor, but it’s important to ensure the people working in ag have a legal pathway to staying in the U.S. permanently.

Read the legislation.