Agricultural Labor Policy Update
September 6, 2025
| Friends, As we ventured out last week for Labor Day weekend, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) took two positive steps toward reshaping the agricultural policy landscape. Here are some key insights and relevant links from The Packer that we found helpful for putting all of the news in context. 1. Court Vacates 2023 AEWR Rule A recent federal court decision in Louisiana vacated the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2023 Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) Methodology rule, restoring the prior methodology from 2010 and simplifying new H-2A applications by using the Farm Labor Survey-based AEWR. Producers will no longer need to split job orders by occupation or risk triggering higher wage rates for non-standard tasks. For growers, this could mean relief in rising costs and bring predictability back to H-2A wage planning in labor-intensive crops. Read more: What the AEWR Ruling Means for Ag Employers, from The Packer. 2. USDA to Discontinue the Farm Labor Survey In a related development, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced that it will end the long-running Farm Labor Survey on the basis that it is deemed duplicative and/or no longer necessary. The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) says that this change will offer producers relief from the Farm Labor Survey being used as a wage-setting mechanism. This move is also being praised by North Carolina Senator Brent Jackson as bringing an end to a “flawed federal tool that for years inflated the H-2A wage rates and crushed producers with unsustainable labor costs.” Learn more: NCAE Says USDA to Discontinue Farm Labor Survey, from The Packer. These two developments certainly do not solve the decades-long issues with the rising cost of agricultural labor and the AEWR specifically, but they do indicate forward movement on ag labor issues. The NC Ag Partnership is very thankful to all of the leaders in our state who are engaged daily on this issue. Also on the radar: We mentioned this in the clips last week, but want to reiterate that the 2024 Ag Disaster Crop Loss payments began going out to producers last week, with more essential relief to come. Happening this weekend: I hope to meet many of our Ag Partnership supporters at the Mountain State Fair this weekend. Please say hello if we cross paths! Best regards, |
 |
| Tori Rumenik Executive Director, North Carolina Ag Partnership |