U.S. lawmakers have come together to urge the U.S. Department of Labor to roll back Biden-era regulations they say are increasing costs for American farmers.
North Carolina U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, and South Carolina U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, alongside 84 other federal lawmakers, are leading a bipartisan coalition to address growing concerns around costs and labor shortages, increasing deficits for farmers.
In a letter to Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the lawmakers say complexities surrounding the H-2A visa program are creating barriers for producers hoping to enroll in the program.
“As we continue our work during the 119th Congress here in our nation’s capital, it has been made abundantly clear that farmers continue to face serious challenges back home,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our rural communities have long shown resilience in the face of daunting circumstances and have a proven track record of overcoming various difficulties to get food on the table.”
Farmers face a number of issues beside just cost, the letter says, including a widening trade deficit and ongoing recovery after a series of natural disasters, such as Hurricane Helene, which ripped through rural counties from Florida to North Carolina.
Ongoing shortages of reliable and experienced agricultural workers also continue to pose a threat to the future of American agriculture, the lawmakers wrote.
“Consistent access to agricultural labor has always been difficult, the Biden Administration further complicated this issue by applying a series of rules that fundamentally altered the implementation of the H-2A visa program, and the methodology used to determine the Adverse Effective Wage Rate. These changes placed a significant burden on American farmers by further increasing farm labor wages,” the letter states.
While the lawmakers acknowledge the impact of those policies have been recognized by the Trump administration, particularly with the halting of enforcement of the Biden administration’s farm labor unionization rule, they are requesting the rule be fully rescinded.
“Unfortunately, the rule was still finalized, which has caused unnecessary and burdensome cost increases for our nation’s farmers. We encourage you to fully rescind this out-of-touch rule to create more pragmatic labor wages for America’s farmers.”
The lawmakers urged the department to work with President Donald Trump and his cabinet to make the H-2A visa program more accessible and more flexible for all producers.
