Oct 6, 2025

Shifting labor landscape: Actions spark optimism for long-term reform

Several recent decisions affecting ag labor have industry insiders cautiously optimistic that the political landscape may be favorable for long-lasting reform. 

In early September, the USDA announced it was discontinuing a method of measuring farm wages dating to the 19th century. In a Sept. 3 notice in the Federal Register, the National Agriculture Statistics Network (NASS) said the Agricultural Labor Survey (or Farm Labor Survey) was not designed to reflect the current state of agriculture or labor. 

That came on the heels of a federal court decision vacating the Department of Labor (DOL)’s 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) Methodology rule, which followed the June suspension of a contested measure that extended protections to H-2A guest workers who organize to form labor unions. 

Agricultural organizations including the National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE),  the Georgia Fruit & Vegetable Association and the National Potato Council (NPC) greeted the actions with relief and applause. 

“We continue to push for comprehensive ag labor reform,” Mike Wenkel, NPC chief operating officer, told Great American Media Services in a Sept. 10 interview. “There’s really two key components to that. One is stabilizing the existing workforce by providing some sort of legal status for those people currently working in the country to stay here and to continue to work. Secondly is having a functional guest worker program. 

“From an optimism standpoint, we really believe we’re at a place where most of the stars are aligning, and we truly believe it’s attainable.”

AEWR calculation debate

On Aug. 27, a federal court in Louisiana vacated a 2023 DOL rule that based the H-2A program’s AEWR on the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey in addition to the Farm Labor Survey (FLS), applying permanent, non-agricultural wage data to seasonal agricultural jobs and subjecting growers to periodic wage increases.

“For years, federal regulators forced America’s farm and ranch families to pay an escalating, imaginary wage,” said Michael Marsh, NCAE president and CEO. “For years, NCAE and our members fought to have the Department put an end to misusing the FLS as a wage-setting mechanism for H-2A workers.”

In response to that ruling, DOL said it would revert to a 2010 regulation that defaulted to the FLS for establishing wage rates. On Aug. 29, USDA filed a notice in the Federal Register of its intent to discontinue the FLS, saying it was outdated.

In the Sept. 3 notice, NASS said improvements to the DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program “make OEWS the superior barometer for measuring farm wages.”

The FLS collected information from farmers and not farm labor contractors — data that is instead collected by OEWS, USDA said. The agency said that, given the shortage of domestic labor and the complex process to navigate visa programs for foreign workers, more and more farmers rely on farm labor contractors to supply their workforce.

Industry groups also argued the DOL’s reliance on FLS results allowed wages for foreign farmworkers under the H-2A guest worker program to outpace those for domestic food producers.

“The belief is that it created a false wage rate within agriculture,” Wenkel said. “The question for the near future is, what’s going to be used to determine that Adverse Effect Wage Rate? You have to be able to prove that there’s an adverse effect on domestic workers first, which much of the data shows there’s no domestic workers willing to do the work. So it’s a little bit of a balance, but I think (the decision) creates a positive opportunity for us to try to get something that’s more reflective of what’s happening on those operations.”

Worker protection wrangling

On June 20, DOL’s Wage and Hour Division suspended a worker protection rule, “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States,” enjoined nationwide by a court ruling since December 2024. DOL cited “significant legal uncertainty, inconsistency and operational challenges for farmers lawfully employing H-2A workers.”

Opponents argued that the rule, which also aimed to shield guest workers from wage theft and trafficking, permitted government overreach, while a federal judge found that it violated the National Labor Relations Act, which excludes farmworkers from collective bargaining rights.

NPC sent comments supporting the rule’s proposed rescission to DOL officials on Aug. 29, saying the move “restores balance by preserving meaningful worker protections while avoiding unlawful overreach.”

“It created a lot of confusion at the farm level,” Wenkel said. “It moved into a lot of disclosure of personal information related to operations (and) gave third-party entities the ability to come on your farms and go into guest housing for H-2A workers.”

NPC CEO Kam Quarles applauded the rule’s rescission along with the wage rule rollbacks but cautioned the moves are “temporary fixes,” with “a comprehensive reform package that addresses the long-term needs of growers and workers alike” still needed.

Wenkel said there’s reason to hope that legislative momentum may continue toward streamlining an H-2A program often seen as unnecessarily cumbersome and providing a path for undocumented farmworkers — estimated at between 40% and 80% of the U.S. ag workforce — to legal work status.

“We continue to hear that the border is secure, which has certainly been one of those concerns of why we couldn’t move forward with agricultural reform within the labor space,” Wenkel said. “If that truly is the case, it certainly positions us to be able to do what’s right to ensure — not only for farms but consumers — that we have the ability to produce all of the produce and other commodities that need a guest worker program and really work toward that comprehensive solution.”

Wenkel encouraged growers to participate in driving the reform process forward. 

“Growers telling their stories to their members of Congress or their senators of the importance of getting something done now will really help us in pushing for that in D.C.,” he said. “Take a moment, make a phone call to the congressional office, whether it’s the district office or the D.C. office, and tell them there’s a need for something to be done.”

Melinda Waldrop, Contributing Editor