By Tyler Harper
It’s no secret that 2024 was a difficult year for Georgia’s No. 1 industry and farm families across our state. Inflation, sky-high input costs, depressed commodity prices, an unlevel playing field with our foreign competitors and bad policy coming from D.C. are among the reasons U.S. net farm income has declined by upward of $40 billion over the last two years. That’s the largest decline in history. Combine that with a generational storm like Hurricane Helene, which wiped out over a third of our industry’s market value overnight, and you can begin to see how dire the situation is for producers in Georgia and across the Southeast.
The decision to push through another adverse effect wage rate (AEWR) increase for 2025 — while tens of thousands of producers across the Southeast are just now beginning a multi-year recovery process from Hurricanes Helene, Debby and Milton — is unconscionable.
Over the past three years, Georgia’s AEWR has increased by more than 30% from $11.99 to $16.08, forcing farmers to take on hundreds of millions in additional labor costs. There is not an industry in existence that can absorb a 31% cost of labor increase without experiencing significant negative impacts. That is not rocket science. It is basic economics. Policymakers’ unwillingness or inability to understand that basic fact has created or compounded many of the issues facing American agriculture today — increased food costs for consumers, declining net farm income, agricultural land loss and corporate consolidation of food production.
These AEWR increases hit America’s small farms the hardest. Here in Georgia, family farms are the backbone of agriculture, and we are incredibly proud that 96% of farms in Georgia are family operations. While large corporate operations may have the resources to continue operating, the 9% AEWR increase in Georgia for 2025 will likely force some small farmers to close their operations and completely change their way of life.
H-2A: Burdensome and Broken
The H-2A program was created to ensure a stable workforce for American producers and a secure, consistent food supply for consumers. However, it has become so complex and burdensome that those benefits are rapidly diminishing.
Just one example of how broken the H-2A program has become is the 2022 revision to the AEWR formula. Simply put, this rule change forced farmers to classify workers into categories with the highest AEWR, even if the vast majority of their work could be classified into a category with a lower AEWR. This created a system that is designed to artificially inflate AEWR wages year-over-year, essentially guaranteeing a never-ending cycle of wage increases. At the same time, the input of American farmers and industry trade groups has been largely ignored and basic questions about these rule changes left unanswered.
Advocating for Ag
American producers deserve a federal government that is committed to working for them, not against them. While we haven’t had that recently, I am confident that the incoming administration will be more receptive to the needs of American agriculture. That is not to say we can get complacent, with so many competing interests in Washington, it remains essential that American producers continue advocating for federal policy that promotes American agriculture and empowers American farmers. I would encourage every specialty crop grower in Georgia and across the country to take action. Make your voice heard and ask policymakers to support a freeze on the 2025 AEWR increases.
At the Georgia Department of Agriculture, we are committed to supporting every Georgia farmer regardless of what they grow, where they are or the size of their operation. While Georgia continues to recover from Hurricane Helene, we are working around the clock to ensure that the recently appropriated federal disaster aid is distributed to farmers as quickly and efficiently as possible. As we work together to ensure our farm families recover from the disasters we have faced, we must also continue to work together fighting back against policies that negatively impact American farmers and consumers.
Tyler Harper is Georgia’s commissioner of agriculture.