Minnesota State Wire

Employers classified under the Manufacturing industry based in Minnesota submitted three H-2A job orders during 2024, according to data provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services via the H-2A Employer Data Hub.

All of these petitions submitted were approved.

Employers are classified under industries based on their reported operations and may be involved in multiple industries.

The H-2A visa program allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers for temporary or seasonal agricultural jobs when enough domestic workers are unavailable. Employers must demonstrate a short-term need and that hiring foreign workers will not negatively affect U.S. workers' wages or working conditions. These jobs must first be offered to U.S. workers, and both domestic and H-2A workers must receive at least the highest of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) or other wage benchmarks.

The average approval rate for H-2A petitions across the United States in 2024 stood at 98.8%, slightly higher than the 98.4% recorded in 2023. Statewide, employers across all industries filed 2,532 job orders during the same period, with an approval rate of 98.6%.

The Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting industry led the H-2A filings in Minnesota during 2024, with 2,453 petitions (96.9% of all submissions), and an approval rate of 98.5%. Meanwhile, the Wholesale Trade industry was the second largest contributor, filing 37 petitions (1.5% of the total), with an approval rate of 100%.

The Minnesota employer that made the most petitions classified under the Manufacturing sector during 2024 was DJ Coleman Farms, with seven petitions.

Compared to 2023, the Manufacturing sector in the state saw a 50% decrease in the number of H-2A petitions filed during 2024.

The United States admits around 1 million legal immigrants annually, most of whom receive permanent residence (green cards) through family sponsorship or employment-based visas. In 2023, about 1.2 million immigrants were granted green cards, a return to pre-pandemic levels. Temporary visa programs, such as the H-1B for highly skilled workers and H-2A for seasonal agricultural workers, also play a critical role in filling workforce needs.

Public opinion on immigration varies, with 46% of Americans favoring maintaining current legal immigration levels, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. Additionally, 42% believe that highly skilled workers, such as scientists, doctors, and programmers, should be prioritized for legal immigration, compared to 25% who prioritize workers filling labor shortages and 19% who emphasize family sponsorship. Despite this, family sponsorship remains the most common path to permanent residency, accounting for 63% of green cards issued in 2023.

Due to manual data entry and the use of paper forms by applicants or petitioners, occasional discrepancies in employer names, tax IDs, locations, or other details may be found in the H-2A Employer Data Hub provided by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is the data used in this article. Despite these potential issues, USCIS works to ensure accuracy.

Rank	Industry	Total Petitions	% of All Submissions	% Approved	% Denied
1	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	2,453	96.9%	98.5%	1.5%
2	Wholesale Trade	37	1.5%	100%	0%
3	Other Services (except Public Administration)	14	0.6%	100%	0%
4	Retail Trade	12	0.5%	100%	0%
5	Construction	5	0.2%	100%	0%
6	Manufacturing	3	0.1%	100%	0%

Company Name	Industries	Total Petitions	% Approved	% Denied
Bailey Nurseries Growers, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	301	100%	0%
Riverview, LLP	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	151	100%	0%
Gerten Greenhouses	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	120	100%	0%
Bailey Nurseries, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	109	100%	0%
EMP Serv, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	59	100%	0%
Altenburg Construction, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	59	81.4%	18.6%
Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	51	64.7%	35.3%
Black Gold Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	48	100%	0%
Raguse Family Partnership	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	38	100%	0%
Bailey Nurseries Services, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	37	100%	0%
Bergens Nursery	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	31	100%	0%
Schaefer Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	28	96.4%	3.6%
Wilmer Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	26	100%	0%
Southwind Orchards	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	26	100%	0%
Distinctive Floral Company	Wholesale Trade	26	100%	0%
Jirik Sod Farm, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	26	100%	0%
Boehnke Waste Handling	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	25	100%	0%
Dan and Jerry S Greenhouse, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	25	100%	0%
Pederson Brothers Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	25	100%	0%
Reece Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	22	100%	0%
Bergens Greenhouses	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	22	100%	0%
Rinke Custom Harvesting, LLP	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	22	100%	0%
Kandi Produce, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	22	100%	0%
Thomas Wolcyn	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	22	100%	0%
Hilltop Swine, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	21	100%	0%
Field Brothers Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	20	100%	0%
Hoffman and Mcnamara Company	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	20	100%	0%
QTE by Products, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	19	100%	0%
Fresha, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	18	100%	0%
Monda Honey Farm, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	16	100%	0%
Hickory Orchard, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	16	100%	0%
Prosser Kuznia, GP	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	16	100%	0%
The Valley Tree Company, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	15	100%	0%
JL Coleman Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	15	100%	0%
Twin Spruce Farm, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
Scotch Prairie Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
Wilsons Nursery, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
Wescott Agri Products, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
United Farmers Cooperative	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
E Clan, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	100%	0%
Nelson Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	14	64.3%	35.7%
Cider Hill Farm	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	13	100%	0%
Thronson Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	12	100%	0%
Lamb S Honey Farm	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	12	100%	0%
D and H Field Services, Inc.	Other Services (except Public Administration)	12	100%	0%
Matt Holien	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	12	100%	0%
Endless Acres Holding, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	12	100%	0%
Triple V Concrete Construction, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	12	100%	0%
Mccann Potato Company	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	11	100%	0%
Exploration Drilling, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	11	100%	0%
Alan Collette Farming Association	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	11	100%	0%
ASRJ Enterprise, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
Schwartz Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
Longtin Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
Homestead Apiaries, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
Dakota Valley Potato Company	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
A Landscaping, LLC	Retail Trade	10	100%	0%
HFC, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	10	100%	0%
Oak Ridge Terminal, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	9	100%	0%
C R Koehl and Sons, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	9	100%	0%
Omodt and Jorde Farms, GP	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	9	100%	0%
Minn Kota Agent Products	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, Wholesale Trade	9	100%	0%
Midwest Nursery	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	9	100%	0%
Walsh Farm, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
JFF, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Doubletree Farm, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Don Yaggie Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
John Miller Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Spear Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Bradley Jagol	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
J and H Harvesting, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Boll Family Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	8	100%	0%
Mark S Prosser	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Smeby Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Progressive Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Schmitz Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
FTP Construction, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Seeds Farm, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Novak S Grown Right Vegetables	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
DJ Coleman Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting, Manufacturing	7	100%	0%
JW Scott Farm	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Jim Whiting Nursery and Garden Center I	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Ideal Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	7	100%	0%
Capp Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Andrew P Merron	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Field Farms, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Ramsey Construction	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
EBP, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Paul Suda Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Ries Farms, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Blairs Bees and Honey, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Spanier Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Agent Technician Drainage	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Richard Elbert	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Bonanza Bean, LLC	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
Kuznia, GP	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	6	100%	0%
RM Steel, LLC	Construction	5	100%	0%
Honl S Bees, Inc.	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	5	100%	0%
L and B Theis Farms	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	5	100%	0%
John F Desautel Farming Company	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	5	100%	0%