Farm Support Services NAICS 1151, 1152

Jul 30, 2025 - Rural America’s Labor Crisis

• Where Have All The Workers Gone?” – a new report from credit provider CoBank – finds lower fertility rates, declining labor force participation, and lower net immigration are conspiring to squeeze rural America’s labor supply. Moreover, the shortage is expected to worsen, with the inherently labor-intensive agricultural sector especially vulnerable to labor shortages. The shrinking agricultural labor pool – aggravated by President Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign – is putting US farms at risk, the American Farm Bureau Federation asserts, noting that many producers already struggle to fill roles. AFBF President Zippy Duvall has called on Congress to prioritize fixing agricultural workforce programs, noting the US can have both a secure border and a labor program that provides a desperately needed and dependable farm workforce. Failure to fix the farm labor crisis, will result in rotting crops, a reduced food supply, and higher grocery prices for American consumers, per AFBF.
• Agronomists are encouraging farmers to be on the lookout for tar spot after the disease was confirmed in corn fields in two midwestern states in June, AgWeb reports. Tar spot, a foliar disease of corn caused by the fungus Phyllachora maydis, was first confirmed in the US in 2015 in Illinois and Indiana. The Crop Protection Network reported the disease was found on June 11 northeast Kansas and Indiana. Corn crops with extended periods of leaf wetness – due to fog, high relative humidity, or rain – are most vulnerable, according to Bryant Luers, LG Seeds field agronomist. Tar spot develops rapidly, overwinters in residue and can travel airborne from neighboring fields making it nearly impossible to eradicate completely. It’s also more aggressive than typical Corn Belt diseases. Tracking daily humidity levels is a good way to scout for the disease.

• Migrant workers appear to be braving the threat of deportation by continuing to show up for work, The Wall Street Journal reports. WSJ noted that while data covering immigrants lacking permanent legal status is fragmentary, what’s available shows no broad pullback from the labor force, including on farms. A spokeswoman for the American Farm Bureau Federation said that while some farmers report employees afraid to come to work, “We are not aware of widespread interruptions in farm operations due to employees’ absenteeism.” To allay concerns about a shortage of agricultural workers President Trump in April said he was looking into allowing undocumented farm and hospitality workers to voluntarily leave the country for a short time before reentering the country legally, Bloomberg reported. Nearly half (45%) of all agricultural workers in the US – 950,000 of an estimated 2.2 million farmworkers – are "unauthorized" migrants working illegally on farms and ranches.
• The USDA plans to invest up to $100 million in projects that will help combat bird flu in poultry and directly support America’s farmers and ranchers, according to the press release from the agency. Funding is available, through a competitive process, to for-profit organizations, including vaccine and therapy makers, as well as states, universities, and other eligible entities, according to the agency. The USDA is prioritizing projects focused on the development of novel vaccines to protect poultry from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and treat infected flocks while promoting biosecurity. USDA will test the efficacy of therapeutic interventions to prevent bird flu and treat infected flocks. In consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, USDA will also explore prevention strategies to promote biosecurity in agriculture and in humans, to ensure limited impact on American farmers, according to the press release.