(WISCONSIN) — The Trump administration issued new guidance on June 17, 2026, declaring dairy operations eligible for consideration under the H-2A visa program. The move reverses a long-standing interpretation that had effectively kept Wisconsin dairy farms out of the seasonal agricultural worker system.

Homeland Security and Labor Department officials issued the guidance jointly. It describes dairy operations as “an agricultural activity eligible for consideration under the H-2A program.” The guidance instructs USCIS not to reject petitions solely because the employer is a dairy farm.

Administration officials said the change takes effect immediately as a reinterpretation of existing law, not a statutory expansion by Congress. Dairy employers can now file H-2A petitions if they can demonstrate a qualifying temporary or seasonal labor need. The guidance does not create a year-round dairy visa or a new legal category for permanent dairy jobs.

For years, the federal H-2A program was structured around temporary or seasonal agricultural work, leaving most dairies outside the system. Milking, feeding, cleaning, and herd care happen year-round and did not fit the program’s seasonal framework. USDA’s Economic Research Service still describes H-2A as a program for seasonal farm labor, usually lasting up to 10 months. Most livestock producers, including dairies, are not legally allowed to use it for year-round labor needs.

USCIS will review each petition individually and decide whether the job is genuinely temporary or seasonal under existing law. Some dairy employers may now use H-2A for limited functions tied to peak periods, leave coverage, or other time-bounded needs. The rule does not resolve the industry’s year-round labor shortage.

That distinction between reinterpretation and statutory change is central to what the guidance accomplishes. Federal agencies have changed how they apply the law, but Congress’s underlying H-2A statute remains intact. USDA and immigration officials are still relying on the program’s core requirement that the employer’s need be temporary or seasonal.

H-2A has expanded sharply in recent years, reflecting how dependent U.S. agriculture has become on foreign labor. USDA says H-2A positions certified in fiscal year 2024 reached approximately 385,000, more than seven times the level in fiscal year 2005. About 315,500 H-2A visas were issued that year.

The Labor Department approved 398,258 temporary farm workers in fiscal year 2025, up by nearly 20,000 from two years earlier. Approvals in the first half of fiscal year 2026 reached 254,688, which was 36,721 more than in the first half of fiscal year 2025.

Wisconsin’s H-2A footprint remains smaller than neighboring states. Dairy dominates the state’s agriculture sector and still requires year-round labor that H-2A was not designed to cover. The state’s dairy industry depends heavily on immigrant labor to keep operations running around the clock.

Wisconsin producers and dairy associations continue to argue that the state needs a broader immigration fix. A narrower interpretation of an old seasonal visa is not enough. The Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association has said dairy manufacturing, processing, and supply-chain jobs also need immigration solutions. The workforce problem extends beyond the farm gate.

Immigration enforcement pressure has compounded the labor strain. Many farms now view H-2A as more critical. The White House’s immigration crackdown has made the labor pool more fragile. Concerns are growing that undocumented workers may leave the workforce or avoid traveling to jobs.

Worker advocates warn that expanding temporary visa programs without stronger protections can leave workers vulnerable to wage theft, unsafe conditions, and retaliation. H-2A workers are tied to their employers in ways that can make it risky to speak up or leave abusive workplaces. That tension has become more visible in Wisconsin as federal and state enforcement actions, wage-rule changes, and labor shortages converge.

Beyond eligibility, the administration has changed H-2A wage rules in ways that reduce employer labor costs. The Department of Labor announced cuts to the program’s minimum wage in October 2025. The system now uses two skill levels instead of the prior job-duty-based method.

Employers may now deduct part of workers’ wages to reflect housing costs. Wisconsin workers classified as less-skilled could see wages as low as $12 per hour in 2026 under the new standards. That is down from the prior H-2A minimum wage level in the state. Wisconsin’s H-2A wage floor was $18.15 an hour in 2025, up from $14.40 in 2020.

Lower wages may improve affordability for agricultural employers. They do not resolve the structural mismatch between H-2A’s temporary framework and dairy’s continuous labor model. Lower wages and housing deductions can increase concern about exploitation among workers. This is especially true where farms already depend on migrant labor and workers have limited bargaining power.

Dairy operators may now find some H-2A petitions worth filing where they previously would have been rejected or discouraged. Employers that can document a genuine temporary or seasonal need may use the program for limited roles. Those include filling in for a defined period, covering peak production, or meeting short-term labor gaps.

Farms should not assume H-2A has become a full solution for a dairy workforce. The program still requires a showing of temporary need, labor certification, housing, transportation obligations, and compliance with federal recruitment and wage rules. Wisconsin dairies that need permanent, continuous labor still face the same legal gap that has long driven calls for immigration reform.

Larger dairy operations may test the new guidance. Many will still rely on the same mix of domestic workers, immigrant labor, and long-running workarounds that have characterized the industry for years. The likely near-term result is partial relief, not structural transformation.

Immigrant workers may find more H-2A opportunities in dairy than existed before, but only for jobs that meet the temporary or seasonal test. Applicants should expect case-by-case review rather than automatic approval, along with the program’s usual requirements, including employer sponsorship and work authorization tied to the petitioning farm.

H-2A does not provide permanent status, long-term stability, or a general path to year-round dairy employment. A worker’s legal status usually depends on continuing to meet the terms of the visa and the employer’s compliance with the program.

The policy debate has shifted from whether dairy can use H-2A to whether H-2A itself should be redesigned. Federal agencies have now said dairies can be considered under the program, but only within the existing temporary-work framework. The deeper question is whether the United States needs a new agricultural visa model that fits year-round livestock production, dairy processing, and supply-chain work.

Dairy advocates in Wisconsin continue to argue that the industry cannot operate reliably with a seasonal visa system. The system does not match the daily reality of milking cows and staffing processing plants all year. Worker advocates stress that any expansion must include stronger protections, real enforcement, and safeguards against abuse. They argue that growing H-2A without those fixes simply enlarges a fragile workforce system without addressing its underlying labor rights problems.

Developments to watch include whether USCIS and the Labor Department approve more dairy-related H-2A petitions under the new guidance. Another question is whether more employers test the limits of the temporary-need standard. Congress may also respond with broader year-round agricultural visa reform.

Wisconsin’s dairy sector will also be watching how the new wage rules, enforcement policies, and possible visa fees affect participation. Administration officials have discussed a pending $250 per-visa fee, adding another cost that could shape participation in the program.