Key takeaways • U.S. farm employment has declined steadily since 1969, but the burden is uneven across roughly 2,000 rural counties. • In a meaningful share of rural counties, farm work exceeds 20% of total employment — multiples of the national average. • Program funding and certified-contractor supply often diverge at the county level, producing funded-but-unstaffed risk. • The migrant share of crop workers has collapsed since the 1990s; most labor is now settled.