By Clint Thompson
Southeast specialty crop growers should circle July 1 on their calendars. It could serve as a pivotal date in producers’ fight against the continued spike of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR).
The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) and Michael Marsh, president and chief executive officer of the NCAE, challenged the legality of the AEWR. July 1 is the date chosen by a federal U.S. district judge in Florida for oral arguments.
“I’m cautiously optimistic we’re going to get a good determination from the district court down in Florida and maybe get this thing turned around once and for all; start moving forward so American agriculture can continue to provide food and fiber for American consumers,” Marsh said.
Legality Challenged
The NCAE has challenged the controversial labor rates from multiple angles. One centers on the farm labor survey as published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The other challenges the disaggregated wages for specific farm tasks.
“Immediately, the disaggregated piece will go away. That’s billions of dollars back in farmers’ pockets. The court will have to then decide, we’ll roll back to 2010 rules with regard to the farm labor survey,” Marsh said.
“We’re not done, because the farm labor survey should never be used to establish wage rate in a temporary ag worker program. We’ll still have that hurdle to climb, but at the same time, maybe we can work that out and form an arrangement with the Department of Justice to finally get us to a hearing so that we can have agricultural economists and others in the field to tell us the damage we’ve done to American farmers and ranchers simply by having a wage rate so disconnected from the market place while foreign competition takes more and more of our market share.”
The Farm Labor Survey helps the Department of Labor determine the AEWR, the minimum wage for H-2A workers in every state.
Florida’s AEWR for 2025 is $16.23 per hour, a 10% increase from 2024. The AEWR for Georgia and Alabama is $16.08 per hour, representing 9% increases.
More than 60% fresh fruits and more than 40% fresh vegetables are being imported, from primarily Mexico and Canada. Their labor rates are drastically lower than those in the U.S.
“You’re never going to be able to build a tariff stiff enough to keep that other product coming in. If we’re going to protect America’s farm and ranch families, the court needs to help.”