AmericanHort Urges Congressional Action on H-2A Wage Reform

In late August, a federal court ordered that the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Interim Final Rule (IFR) from October 2025 on farmworker wages must be rewritten. The Court found the IFR invalid and remanded it to DOL without vacating.

In response to this decision, AmericanHort recently joined the National Christmas Tree Association, the Ohio Landscape Association, and more than 30 Ohio member companies in sending a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and House Agriculture Committee Chairman G.T. Thompson urging Congress to address H-2A wage rates and pursue a long-term statutory solution for the program.

The letter highlights industry concerns about the impact of current wage policies on agricultural employers, including growers, landscape businesses, and Christmas tree producers that rely on the H-2A program to meet seasonal workforce needs.

“Our members face a workforce crisis that they cannot solve on their own. America has lost more than 175,000 farms since 2017, with labor challenges being a driving force,” the letter states. “Domestic workers are simply not applying for these jobs: in FY 2025, more than 415,000 agricultural jobs were advertised nationwide through the H-2A process, yet only 182 domestic U.S. workers — less than 0.04% of jobs advertised — applied. Employers must continue to recruit and hire qualified, available U.S. workers, but these numbers demonstrate that domestic recruitment alone is not producing the workforce American agriculture needs.”

The letter continues: “The need for congressional action is more urgent with the federal court decision on the Trump Administration’s October 2025 wage rule. The court found the current methodology unlawful and directed the DOL to develop a replacement. Although the court did not immediately vacate the existing rule, employers may face retroactive wage adjustments after DOL establishes a new methodology.  This leaves American businesses and agriculture employers throughout the country being asked to sign contracts, set prices, and make planting and production decisions for next season without knowing what their highest operating cost will be. This is a familiar and destructive cycle: administrations rewrite H-2A wage rules, those rules are challenged in court, and agriculture employers are left to absorb the resulting uncertainty and risk. No regulation has provided growers with the durability necessary to make long-term business decisions. Only Congress can do that.”

You can download the full letter here.