USDA’s Discontinuation of Farm Labor Survey Seen as Win for Producers

Specialty crop growers scored a significant win last week when the USDA announced its intention to discontinue the Farm Labor Survey (FLS). The FLS helped the Department of Labor determine the AEWR, the minimum wage for H-2A workers in every state. Rates have spiraled out of control in recent years. Michael Marsh, president and chief executive officer of the National Council of Agricultural Employers, outlines the significance of the announcement made by the USDA. I think it is a big win. Our association has been bringing litigation against the Department of Labor since 2019, trying to get them to divorce themselves from using the Farm Labor Survey to establish wage rates for workers in the H-2A temporary ag worker program. It’s a wage rate that’s disconnected from the marketplace for agricultural wages anywhere in the world. It’s unfortunately had the consequence of making US employers non-competitive with their foreign competition.

Source: NAFB