U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-IN) and Mike Braun (R-IN) joined a group of 14 additional Republican Senators in sending a letter to Congressional leadership urging that a freeze to the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for ag labor be included in the earliest possible piece of legislation before Congress.
An increased AEWR went into effect on January 1, 2024, and nationally, the rate increased by 5.6 percent.
Unsustainable increases in the AEWR are especially harmful to small and family-operated farms, who are already limiting operations because they cannot afford to hire enough labor. The AEWR is one of many increasing costs farmers 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. 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,” the senators wrote.
“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. In order to support our farmers and ranchers and feed families across the country, we must act now,” the senators continued.
In addition to Senators Young and Braun, the letter was also signed by Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID), Jim Risch (R-ID), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Tim Scott (R-SC), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rick Scott (R-FL), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Ted Budd (R-NC), Mike Rounds (R-SD), and John Hoeven (R-ND).
Click HERE to read the full text of the letter.