Items Tagged with 'AEWR'

Farmworker and grower groups are battling over the future of the H-2A program, as the Trump administration seeks to lower wages and provide relief to farmers who have complained for years about rising labor costs.

Many of the threats that have faced the global produce industry over the last two years, including geopolitical risks, tariffs, inflation, labor and artificial intelligence, remain key challenges. However, the leader of the International Fresh Produce Association says IFPA is ramping up advocacy efforts and making progress on several fronts in the “Fight for Fresh.”

Labor Department is implementing a new methodology for calculating H-2A wage rates that could save employers an estimated $2.5 billion a year. The National Council of Agricultural Employers says the interim final rule will bring ag wages “back to reality.”

A federal court has struck down a key method for determining farmworker wages in the H-2A guest worker program, in a case brought by Louisiana sugar cane growers.

Tax and spending cuts are at the top of the to-do list for congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump. But there are a broad array of other issues in play that are critical to food and agriculture, from farm bill and the next dietary guidelines to regulations for pesticides and gene-edited crops, and the future of the Biden administration's climate policies.

The Adverse Effect Wage Rate that farmers are required to pay H-2A workers is rising by an average of 4.47% nationally to $17.74 per hour, according to list of 2025 wage rates published in a Federal Register notice Monday.

Farmworker wages rose 3.2% nationally this year from 2023, according to an American Farm Bureau Foundation analysis of USDA’s Farm Labor Survey, which is used to set H-2A minimum wage rates. 

In this opinion piece, Senator Tuberville urges Congress to pass a farm bill that is favorable to America’s agricultural producers.