The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released its semi-annual Farm Labor Report the week of Thanksgiving. The report includes quarterly estimates of the number of hired workers, average hours worked per worker and average hourly wage rates. The report also provides an annual weighted-average hourly wage rate for field workers, field and livestock workers combined, and all hired workers, based on the quarterly estimates. Of utmost importance to users of the H-2A visa program, the field and livestock workers’ combined wage rate for 2023 contained in the report becomes the Adverse Effect Wage Rate utilized in the H-2A program in 2024.
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Veronica Nigh
Veronica Nigh is an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Market Intel. Visit www.fb.org/market-intel for more information.
