WILSON, North Carolina — For Juan Hernandez Vega, one of the toughest questions this season is one that many farmworkers ask themselves after paying their expenses:
“How much money are you going to send to your family?”
Hernández Vega, originally from San Luis Potosí, Mexico, works seasonally in North Carolina under the H-2A program. He currently harvests sweet potatoes and has previously worked on crops such as tobacco, cucumber, squash, strawberries, melon, and watermelon.
On Sunday, September 27, he participated in a farm workers' assembly in Wilson organized by The future is ourswhere workers discussed the changes they have faced during this season: lower incomes, medical expenses, dwelling and working conditions.
Leticia Zavala, one of the organization's coordinators, told Enlace Latino NC that around 200 contracted workers participated in the meeting.
“Today, 200 contracted workers are meeting to organize ourselves and see what can be done against these attacks that the administration is making against the farm workers,” Zavala said.
One of the main concerns during the meeting was salary.
Lower income and more economic pressure
Hernández Vega said that some colleagues have ended weeks with around $300 when there is little work.
They still owe some of that money. cover expenses such as food and other necessities while they remain in the United States.
“A grocery basket costs you about $150,” Hernández Vega said, explaining the economic pressure some workers face.
For him, the problem depends not only on how much is paid per hour, but also on how much work is available and how much money is left after covering basic expenses.
The wage rate for many H-2A workers in North Carolina changed after a new methodology was implemented by the Department of Labor. According to previous coverage by Enlace Latino NC , The rate went from $16.16 to $11.15 per hour for the work carried out since August 3, 2026.
During the sweet potato harvest, Hernández Vega said he receives 50 cents for each bucket he fills. According to him, workers with other employers receive 60 cents.
“It’s not enough,” she said. “We deserve a raise.”
A wage change with effects for workers and producers
H-2A wages have changed under different administrations.
In 2023, during President Joe Biden's administration, the Department of Labor changed the methodology used to set the program's wage rates.
For most agricultural field jobs, the agency continued using data from the Department of Agriculture's Farm Labor Survey. For other occupations, it began using occupation-specific wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Labor Department said the goal was to better reflect the wages of American workers in similar jobs.
The H-2A wages They increased during that period.
Research by Cesar Escalante, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Georgia, and his colleagues found that the national average went from $15.03 per hour in 2022 to $16.13 in 2023 and $16.98 in 2024.
Escalante explained that these changes show a tension between two groups: workers who need sufficient income to cover their needs and producers who must assume higher labor costs.
Their research found that wage increases brought H-2A workers' compensation closer to estimates of what is needed to cover basic needs such as food, housing, and transportation, although the gaps did not disappear in all regions.
At the same time, producers faced higher costs.
In an analysis of the effects of H-2A wage increases, Escalante and colleagues estimated that an average farm could experience a 6.42% reduction in net income under the scenario studied. The impact was greater for operations that relied more heavily on labor.
Small farms may face more difficulties adapting, Escalante explained, because they have less capacity than large operations to invest in machinery or other alternatives.
In October 2025, during President Donald Trump's administration, the Department of Labor changed the methodology again. The new rule used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, established wage categories based on required skills, and incorporated an adjustment related to housing provided to H-2A workers.
The Labor Department argued that the new methodology better reflected the wages of American workers in comparable jobs.
For Escalante, the discussion should not focus solely on one of the two sides.
“My point here, the main message I want to send, is that I want both sides to be heard,” he told Enlace Latino NC “I like it when policies address the needs of workers. But I also want the needs of small farms to be addressed.”
Health and housing are also part of the problem.
During the assembly, the workers didn't just talk about money.
Hernández Vega said he shares a home with 11 other workers. The place where he lives has two toilets and three showers.
Although she believes her working conditions are better than those of other employees she knows, she said that sharing spaces limits her privacy. To talk to her family via video call, she explained, she sometimes looks for another place outside her room.
He also spoke about the difficulties in receive medical attention.
He said that when he or his coworkers get sick, they go to a clinic, and sometimes the clinic staff transports them to receive treatment. In his experience, his employer does not provide this transportation.
During his years working in tobacco, he said he experienced nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and dehydration.
Zavala said that health was another of the top concerns she heard during the season, especially because of the heat and workplace accidents.
Escalante pointed out that the conditions of agricultural work are also part of the discussion on compensation. His research describes physically demanding jobs with health risks, factors that can make it difficult to attract local workers to these occupations.
Guide for agricultural workers
Resources and information in Spanish for farmworkers in North Carolina.
The future of the H-2A wage remains uncertain.
The rate that many H-2A workers receive may still change.
In August 2026, a federal court determined that the methodology used by the Department of Labor to establish H-2A wage rates was illegal and ordered the agency to develop a new formula for calculating program wages.
The court did not immediately overturn the existing rates, so workers and employers continue to be subject to the current rates while the Department of Labor reviews the methodology.
The agency also reported that some employers could face subsequent salary adjustments if the new rates turn out to be higher for certain work periods, although there is currently no obligation to make such payments.
According to Hernández Vega, while that discussion continues, many workers still have difficulty talking about their conditions.
“Many colleagues remain silent out of fear,” he said. “They continue to suffer.”
For him, meeting with other workers is a way to stop facing those problems in silence.
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