Farm Bureau Calls On Congress To Address AEWR

Farms and ranches who employ workers under the H2-A program now have their federally mandated minimum wage under the new Adverse Effect Wage Rate.  Cameron Castillo, associate economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, said wages are set to increase almost entirely across the board.  He added this is the first full year of AEWR wage rates under new guidance from the Department of Labor.

“The AEWR is determined by the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Survey that is conducted by the Department of Labor," Castillo said.  "So that is published in the summertime every year, and it varies by jurisdiction, so each state and territory in the United States has its own AEWR rate.” 

Recently, we highlighted how the AEWR changes will impact Northwest farming operations.  While some progress has been made via the new guidance, Castillo said there are still gaps that Congress can fix, via House Ag Chair GT Thompson’s Securing Agricultural Workforce Act.

“A provision that would cap year-to year-increases in the Adverse Effect Wage Rate at 3.25%," Castillo said.  "The outrageous increases that we see in Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota, would have been limited to 3.25 percent if Chairman Thompson's bipartisan legislation were the law of the land.” 

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