<p>Agroecology has been promoted as an alternative to industrial agriculture for many reasons, including the social and environmental benefits associated with agroecological practices. Yet, agroecological practices are commonly characterized as requiring more labor than non-agroecological, capital-intensive farm management. The anticipated high labor requirements of agroecological practices raise major questions about agroecological transitions in fruit and vegetable production in the United States, where political-economic pressures have promoted land consolidation and mechanization, the agricultural labor market is shrinking, and labor is often fruit and vegetable farmers’ greatest expense. To understand how labor requirements interact with farm size to create barriers to agroecological practice use among fruit and vegetable farmers, we conducted a national survey (<i>n</i> = 599) and interviewed farmers in California and New York (<i>n</i> = 49). Labor barriers (time demand, management complexity, and expenses) were selected as one of the top reasons for not using a practice for seven of eight practices assessed. Notably, farmers who <i>did not use</i> a given agroecological practice perceived a greater labor requirement than farmers who <i>had experience</i> using the same practice. We also found that large-scale farmers, who faced greater labor scarcity than small- and medium-scale farmers, pursued more mechanization despite already managing the most mechanized operations. Lastly, labor policy changes, such as state minimum wage increases, were perceived as exacerbating many farmers’ labor challenges. Our results illustrate distinct issues and potential solutions among differently sized farms, underscoring the need to directly engage with farmers and farmworkers to address labor-related barriers to agroecological transitions.</p>