TN Visa Program a Key Part of Ag Labor Force

Smith: With agricultural labor challenges across the entire sector, some farmers and ranchers are turning to a unique type of visa to alleviate the burden. Samantha Ayoub, an associate economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, says the TN visa program is meant to help farmers find technically skilled workers.

Ayoub: TN visas are part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and so they're designated to nationals of Canada and Mexico who have professional degrees in a set number of professions, including foresters, veterinarians, and a certain number of agricultural professions. From a farmer side, they're generally used mostly in pork production and dairy production, anyone who has specialized services and generally doesn't have access to H2A because they're not seasonal.

Smith: However, Ayoub says the TN visa program works differently for each of the countries workers can originate from.

Ayoub: Only Mexican citizens have to actually apply for the visa. Canadian citizens simply seek access to the U.S., and if they have a job offer in hand, they can be granted a TN Visa. So, we've seen applications triple in a decade, but at the same time, we've also seen denials skyrocket in more recent years. So we're up to 18 percent of all applications are denied, which is up nearly doubled in the last two years.

Smith: Unfortunately, the process has gotten more difficult for workers from Mexico in recent years.

Ayoub: The Mexican mission from the State Department has consolidated their TN Visa processing centers to only three locations in Mexico. So that creates a burden, both for Mexican citizens, but also constrains the ability of the State Department to process those visas. There's also a lack of consistency of what is an agricultural professional. So there's varying definitions across all three countries and their agencies as to what to expect from these professions' job descriptions.

Smith: To learn more, go to fb.org/marketintel. Chad Smith, Washington.