03.11.24

Hoeven, Crapo, Colleagues Urge Freeze to Ag Wage Rate That Could Threaten America’s Food Security

WASHINGTON – Senator John Hoeven joined Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and 14 additional senators in sending a letter to Senate leadership urging the inclusion of a freeze to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) in the earliest possible legislative vehicle. An increased AEWR went into effect on January 1, 2024. Nationally, the rate increased by 5.6 percent, and the rate in North Dakota increased by six percent. Unsustainable increases in the AEWR are especially harmful to small and family-operated farms and ranches, who are already limiting operations because they cannot afford to hire enough labor. The AEWR is one of many increasing costs farmers and ranchers face, and its unsustainable increases could threaten national food security and shift production outside the United States.

“The increasing cost of labor for agriculture producers is unsustainable. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the national average AEWR will be $17.55 this year,” the senators wrote.  “That represents an increase of 5.6 percent from 2023, the third year in a row the AEWR increased by over five percent. In fact, the national average AEWR has more than doubled since 2005. This is compounded by the increased costs of inputs like energy and fertilizer, other guest worker expenses such as housing and transportation, and forthcoming expenses imposed by new regulations and fees.”

“If costs continue to increase as they have, the pressure put on America’s food producers will fundamentally shift the food production model that has allowed us to be agriculturally independent and secure,” the senators continued.  “In order to support our farmers and ranchers and feed families across the country, we must act now.”

In addition to Hoeven and Crapo, the letter was signed by Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho),  Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Todd Young (R-Indiana), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), and Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota).

  

Full text of the letter can be found below and is downloadable here.

Dear Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, Leader McConnell and Leader Jeffries:

We write to share our concerns about the annual adjustment to the Farm Labor Survey (FLS) Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR). On January 1, 2024, new FLS AEWRs went into effect, placing further strain on farmers and ranchers already struggling with elevated input costs. The H-2A community anticipates increases to the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) AEWR later in the year as well. We urge you to include an AEWR freeze in the earliest possible legislative vehicle.

The increasing cost of labor for agriculture producers is unsustainable. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, the national average AEWR will be $17.55 this year. That represents an increase of 5.6 percent from 2023, the third year in a row the AEWR increased by over five percent. In fact, the national average AEWR has more than doubled since 2005. This is compounded by the increased costs of inputs like energy and fertilizer, other guest worker expenses such as housing and transportation, and forthcoming expenses imposed by new regulations and fees.

If costs continue to increase as they have, the pressure put on America’s food producers will fundamentally shift the food production model that has allowed us to be agriculturally independent and secure. The United States already imports much of our fruit and produce, as operating costs and competition from abroad have driven out many domestic producers. If we continue with these unsustainable policies, we are not only damaging our country’s longstanding agricultural heritage, but also threatening our domestic food supply.

We have heard from constituents who will be forced to make tough decisions about which crops they will be able to afford to hire enough labor to harvest this year. Others, including small and family run operations, will be unable to afford the added labor costs and forced to shutter operations altogether. In order to support our farmers and ranchers and feed families across the country, we must act now.  

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