MONTGOMERY, Ala., Sept. 3 — Growers who depend on temporary guest workers for farm labor are praising recent developments related to the federal H-2A program.

Shelby County farmer Phillip Hunter chairs the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Ag Labor Issue Advisory Committee. He said last week’s decision by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to discontinue the Farm Labor Survey (FLS) is a step toward bringing stability to the essential program.

“For decades, the H-2A program has been mutually beneficial — filling the local labor gap for agricultural jobs that may not be attractive to local workers, while providing guest workers competitive pay so they can improve the quality of life for their families back home,” said Hunter, who also serves on the Alabama Farmers Federation’s board of directors. “In recent years, however, increased regulations and escalating Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) requirements have hurt both the farmers who utilize the program and the families of temporary workers.”

Under the Biden Administration, use of unreliable data from the FLS in AEWR calculations led to skyrocketing labor costs for farmers. In Alabama, the minimum hourly H-2A rate increased from $11.99 in 2021 to the current rate of $16.08, a 34% increase. Add to this the requirement that farmers cover the costs for housing and transportation, and Hunter said the program is becoming unsustainable.

“Farmers are willing to pay competitive wages for hard-working, skilled employees,” Hunter said. “We, as well as our domestic employees, work alongside these H-2A guestworkers and have welcomed many of them back year after year. But the government’s mandates and narrow job definitions have made it difficult to maintain our farms and grow our businesses.”

USDA’s decision came on the heels of a Louisiana court ruling last week which vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) 2023 AEWR methodology rule. The Biden-era rule used the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, along with FLS, to apply permanent, non-agricultural wage data to seasonal farm jobs.

Earlier in August, the DOL’s Employment and Training Administration gave notice that it is rescinding a Frequently Asked Question which prohibited employers from filing a single temporary agricultural labor certification to hire H-2A workers after the first date of need. Allowing staggered entry reduces paperwork for farmers who bring H-2A workers into the country on a seasonal basis for specific jobs like pruning trees or harvesting, or who operate year-round but utilize temporary workers on a rotating schedule.

This follows the DOL’s decision in June to suspend the misnamed “Improving Protections for Workers in Temporary Agricultural Employment in the United States” rule. Hunter said the complex rule put undue burdens on farmers by making inaccurate assumptions about the care and safety afforded guest workers.

“We appreciate the Trump administration, especially USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and DOL Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, for their work to bring common sense back to the H-2A program,” Hunter said. “For the first time in years, we feel the federal government is listening to the farmers who utilize this important program. Our Ag Labor Issue Advisory Committee, along with our team at the Alabama Farmers Federation, is looking forward to working with Congress and the administration to improve the guest worker program while ensuring strong border security.”