Labor & Workforce
2025 NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan
The Labor & Workforce Brief explores the working conditions, wages, employment opportunities and availability, and the other adjacent issues of farming, fishing, processing, and distributing the food New Hampshire farmers and fishermen produce. This brief is one of 27 briefs created as part of the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan.
What's at Stake?
Local food production can help strengthen access to food, particularly when global food supply chains are disrupted. Such local food production requires both available land, working waterfronts, and people to be successful. New Hampshire’s labor force shortage, as well as rising costs for living expenses, such as housing and child care, likely restricts the growth of local agriculture and seafood, as well as the ability of workers to join these professions. Investments to reduce costs for current farmers and fishermen and for people who would choose to become either, but face too many financial barriers to make the occupation feasible, may bolster local food production and agriculture.
Current Conditions
Nationally, both self-employed and hired farmworker labor declined 66% between 1950 and 1990, but has stabilized since 19906. In 2022, 813 farms in New Hampshire reported 4,627 hired farmworkers. The total number of farms in the state declined from 4,123 to 3,949 between 2017 and 2022, still higher than the 3,363 farms reported in 20027.
Farming, fishing, and forestry employers had 258 H-2A seasonal foreign agricultural workers approved by the federal government for employment at New Hampshire worksites in 2024, with a reported wage rate of $16-$18 per hour at all sites8,9.
About 70.4% of farms reported a net loss in cash income in 2022; this percentage increased from 68.4% in 2017. About 39.6% of all farms had net cash losses of $10,000 or more, while only 17.9% had gains of $10,000 or more7.
Local products are not sufficiently valued in the marketplace for most farming operations to earn a profit and compete with national-level sellers. Restricted farm financial resources may result in difficulty hiring, due to offering low wages for difficult work, and competition from other employment opportunities. Across all sectors, New Hampshire has averaged more than two job openings per unemployed worker since the start of 202210,11.
Challenges
> New Hampshire living costs are relatively high, particularly housing and land costs. The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimated that a 2024 living wage in New Hampshire for two adults with one child is $97,876. Only 292 farms in the state reported a net cash income from operations exceeding $50,000 in 202212,7. Housing costs have increased fastest in rural parts of the state, challenging workers seeking affordable housing and aspiring farmers looking to buy and build on land13,14.
> The seasonal nature of work and lack of employer- sponsored healthcare and other benefits limit the viability of agricultural employment15.
> Nationally, farmers who are queer and young farmers who identify as a member of a racial or ethnic minority group are more likely to report facing discrimination16,17,13.
Opportunities
> Existing public and nonprofit resources for farmers and workers may be underutilized. Connecting workers with resources they may be eligible for, but are not yet accessing, could enhance health and safety7,18.
> More collaboration between the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food, other state agencies, businesses, and nonprofits may help generate more markets and higher market value for locally-produced food19.
> Clarifying regulations could help reduce instances of agricultural worker discrimination as New Hampshire diversifies20.
Recommendations
Organizations working on this issue
Authors
Lead Author
Phil Sletten, Research Director, New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute
Contributing Authors
Roger Noonan, President, New England Farmers Union
Sarah Danly, Program Manager, Housing and Food & Farm, Vital Communities
This brief was developed through a participatory process led by the NH Food Alliance, a program of the University of New Hampshire. The brief content is comprised of the opinions, perspectives, and information gathered by the authors and participants, and does not necessarily represent those of the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food or the NH Food Alliance.
Head to the NH Food and Agriculture Strategic Plan main page to read more briefs, browse recommendations and learn how the strategic plan was created.
References
1 Wood, A. Queiroz, C. Deutsch, L. Gonzalez-Mon, B. Jonell, M. Pereira, L. Sinare, H. Svedin, U. Wassenius, E. Reframing the local–global food systems debate through a resilience lens. Nature Food. Doi.org. Published 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00662-0
2 New England Feeding New England. New Hampshire State Brief. New England Food System Planners Partnership. nefoodsystemplanners.org. Published 2023. Accessed September 25, 2024. https://nefoodsystemplanners.org/wp-content/uploads/NEFNE-NEW-HAMPSHIRE-State-Brief.pdf
3 2024 Economic Analysis Report. New Hampshire Employment Security. nhes.nh.gov. Published September 2024. https://www.nhes.nh.gov/elmi/products/documents/economic-analysis-2024.pdf
4 Williams, J. New Hampshire Rental Costs Continued to Rise in Early 2024, Increasing Impacts on Tenant Household Budgets. New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. nhfpi.org. Published August 22, 2024. https://nhfpi.org/blog/new-hampshire-rental-costs-continued-to-rise-in-early-2024-increasing-impacts-on-tenant-household-budgets/
5 Heller, N. Annual Price of 2023 Child Care for Two Granite State Children Under Five Averaged Nearly $32,000. New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. nhfpi.org. Published May 15, 2024. https://nhfpi.org/blog/annual-price-of-2023-child-care-for-two-granite-state-children-under-five-averaged-nearly-32000/
6Economic Research Service. Farm Labor. U.S. Department of Agriculture. ers.usda.gov. Published 2023. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-labor
7U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2022 Census of Agriculture: New Hampshire State and County Data. Volume 1, Part 29, AC-22-A-29. nass.usda.gov. Issued February 2024. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/New_Hampshire/nhv1.pdf
8U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. H2-A Employer Data Hub. uscis.gov. Published September 30, 2024. https://www.uscis.gov/tools/reports-and-studies/h-2a-employer-data-hub
9New Hampshire Employment Security. Temporary Agriculture Employment (H-2A). nhes.nh.gov. Published 2017. https://www.nhes.nh.gov/services/employers/foreign/h2a.htm
10Sletten, P. International Migrants and the New Hampshire Economy. New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. [Presentation] New Hampshire Refugee Advisory Council, Manchester, NH, United States. nhfpi.org. Published October 16, 2024. https://nhfpi.org/resource/international-migrants-and-the-new-hampshire-economy/
11 Sletten, P. The Economic Security of New Hampshire Residents. New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. [Presentation] The Monadnock Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Coalition, Keene, NH, United States. nhfpi.org. Published October 21, 2024. https://nhfpi.org/resource/the-economic-security-of-new-hampshire-residents/
12Glasmeier, AK. Living Wage Calculation for New Hampshire. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. livingwage.mit.edu. Published February 14, 2024. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://livingwage.mit.edu/states/33
13Ackoff, S. Flom, E. Polanco, VG. Howard, D. Manly, J. Mueller, C. Rippon-Butler, H. Wyatt, L. Building a Future with Farmers 2022: Results and Recommendations from the National Young Farmer Survey. National Young Farmers Coalition. youngfarmers.org. Published August 31, 2022. https://www.youngfarmers.org/resource/nationalsurveyreport2022/
14Williams, J. Housing in New Hampshire Continues to Become Less Affordable for Buyers and Renters. New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. nhfpi.org. Published May 17, 2024. https://nhfpi.org/blog/housing-in-new-hampshire-continues-to-become-less-affordable-for-buyers-and-renters/
15U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farm Household Well-being: Health Insurance Coverage. ers.usda.gov. Published December 1, 2021. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/farm-economy/farm-household-well-being/health-insurance-coverage/
16Hoffelmeyer, M. Wypler, J. Leslie, IS. Surveying queer farmers: How heteropatriarchy affects farm viability and farmer well-being in U.S. agriculture. J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev. doi.org. Published 2023. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2023.123.005
17NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Black Farmers FAQ {Fact Sheet]. naacpldf.org. Published 2024. https://www.naacpldf.org/case-issue/black-farmers-faq/
18New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. Public Benefit Navigators Can Help Granite Staters Access Federal Assistance and Support the Economy. nhfpi.org. Published February 10, 2022. https://nhfpi.org/resource/public-benefit-navigators-can-help-granite-staters-access-federal-assistance-and-support-the-economy/
19New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets, and Food. Division of Agricultural Development. agriculture.nh.gov. Published 2014. https://www.agriculture.nh.gov/divisions/agricultural-development/index.htm
20New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute. New Hampshire’s Growing Population and Changing Demographics Before and Since the COVID-19 Pandemic. nhfpi.org. Published August 16, 2024. https://nhfpi.org/resource/new-hampshires-growing-population-and-changing-demographics-before-and-since-the-covid-19-pandemic/
