Changes to H-2A visa program wage rates expected to hit N.D. farmers

For farmers like Dunn County’s Lenci Sickler, recent U.S. Department of Labor rule changes that alter the pay rates for temporary seasonal foreign workers could cause his labor costs to skyrocket, he said, unless they are rescinded.

Sickler supplements his staff with three workers from South Africa who travel to North Dakota on H-2A visas for seasonal spring through autumn work then return h...