Items Tagged with 'Samantha Ayoub'

The H-2A foreign worker program saw another year of growth in 2025, with the number of certified positions increasing by about 13,300 workers to 398,258, a nearly 3.5% rise from the year before, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported. 

The American Soybean Association elected new members to its board of directors, including Ohio grower Scott Metzger as 2026 ASA president. The American Farm Bureau Federation hired Autumn Lankford Higgins as director of government affairs. Sustainable aviation fuel developer Gevo tapped Paul Bloom as CEO and a director on the company’s board. Pivot Bio announced additions to the senior management team, including Shekar Govindaswamy as principal scientist.

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. 

Tuesday was John Newton's last day as the chief economist for the Senate Agriculture Committee under ranking member John Boozman of Arkansas. Bob Petersen will retire from Petersen Consulting, the firm he founded in 2004. Erica Venancio, the firm’s senior executive, will assume leadership of the firm.  

After 13 years, Lisa Humphreys’ time at the United Soybean Board came to an “unexpected and abrupt halt,” she wrote in a LinkedIn post. The U.S. Grains Council has added staff and made multiple promotions: Burhan Chaudhry, Juan Diaz, Sam Clemence, Lucas Rudy and Sam Redfern.