California sheep and goat ranchers adjust to wage increases

California’s Assembly Bill 1066 overtime-for-farm workers law increased minimum sheep and goat range herder wages by 250% in 6 years, from less than $2,000 a month in 2018 to almost $5,000 in 2025. However, higher wages did not attract domestic U.S. workers to herding: most herders in the United States are workers from Peru and Mexico who have H-2A visas. Sheep and goat ranchers responded to higher herder wages by assigning more animals to each herder, switching from monthly to hourly wages where feasible, and expanding their herds or exiting the business. More became vegetation managers, earning payments from clients when their sheep and goats consume vegetation on crop lands and solar farms and grass and brush in the urban–wildland interface to reduce wildfire risks.