ag workers

The American Farm Bureau Federation is urging Congress to pass legislation freezing the “flawed” 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate, or AEWR.  AFBF said the rate distorts labor costs for farmers across the country who hire nearly 400,000 employees through the H-2A program.   The bipartis...

USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs and former Oregon Department of Agriculture head Alexis Taylor will lead a delegation of 26 agribusinesses and farm organizations to Panama City, Panama, March 19-23.  The mission highlights opportunities in Panama and throughout the Central America and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement region.  Exports...

A bill supporters claim will fix Oregon's farm worker overtime law has cleared the state Senate.  But, opponents say the measure doesn’t mitigate the risk to the state’s farming community.   House Bill 4002 cleared the state legislature last year, mandating overtime for ag workers, and creating a host of problems for producers.  The new bill introduced ...

The U.S. Department of Labor recently announced a final rule to amend H-2A temporary labor certification regulations to better protect agricultural workers.  It’s also designed to update the H-2A application and temporary labor certification process.  Not everyone ...

A year after the legislature mandated overtime pay for farm workers, an effort is underway in Salem to make changes to the law.  State Representative Shelly Boshart Davis said since taking effect in June, the rules have created hardships for family farms and resulted in lower pay for ag workers.  She’s lookin...

Farm labor reform remains a priority for the American Farm Bureau Federation.  The Senate last year failed to advance the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, legislation put forward by central Washington’s Dan Newhouse and others.  It was a bill...

In a last-minute effort to get H-2A reform finished before Congress adjourns, lawmakers have introduced a new bill.  Colorado senator Michael Bennet, and central Washington representative Dan Newhouse, introduced the Affordable and Secure Food Act Thursday.  Th...

Labor demands continue to tax the bottom lines of farmers and ranchers, with rising wage rates and record usage of the H-2A visa program.  The American Farm Bureau Federation said meaningful reforms to the federal government's guest worker program must be a priority for Congress by the end of the year.  AFBF an...

Only a few weeks remain for the 117th Congress, and the farming community is hopeful the lame duck session will address a few ag needs during that time.  One of the top issues across commodities in ag labor.  Bryan Searle, President of the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation said it’s still very hard to find workers.   “Nobody really w...

More hired workers on U.S. farms and ranches than a year ago working for higher wages than a year ago. That’s the finding of the USDA’s recent Farm Labor Report. The Department of Ag said during the week of October 9th- 15th there were 785,000 farm and ranch workers who had been hired directly by farm operators. That is 2%...