central virginia farm workers

Travel to work for the majority of the year in Virginia agriculture to sustain our local farms.

The farm workers in Central Virginia are mostly men (age 18 to 70) from Mexico that come to work on farms. Leaving their families behind, they come to Virginia on a temporary visa and supply our area with the food you eat and beverages you drink.
The H2A visa is a special visa that allows farms to legally employ temporary agricultural laborers, without granting a pathway to citizenship.
In winter, workers prune, pack, and graft apple, peach, and pear trees, facing cold conditions and risks from snow and ice. Spring brings warming weather, fruit thinning, and early harvests, along with allergy and pesticide exposure risks. During summer, the main harvest of peaches, cherries, and apples takes place, with dangers from heat illness and tick-borne diseases. In fall, apple harvesting, pruning, and fertilizing continue, and the busy season increases the risk of work-related injuries.

virginia runs on

(the hands that pick our)

*and peaches, grapes, cherries

5-6 million bushels of apples produced in virginia annually

Virginia apples contribute $235 million annually to the state economy

44 pounds of apples consumed annually per person

6,000 migrant workers come from Latin America to Virginia

An experienced farm worker can pick more than 15,000 apples a day

Workers come to the United States without their families and no pathway to citizenship