Labor

Senators seek rollback of H-2A wages to 2022 rates

Farm groups are urging Congress to pass the Farm Operations Support Act, which would decrease the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) paid to H-2A temporary visa farm workers to 2022 levels. That would drop the... more »

NCAE webinar focuses on labor program wages

The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) is presenting the second installment of its educational webinar series focusing on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new Adverse Effect Wage Rate regulation. The webinar will be moderated... more »

EFI waste reduction program shows CO2 emission reductions

Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) and sustainability consultancy Measure to Improve have successfully concluded a program to reduce emissions in the produce industry. The two-year produce & reduce pilot program which was implemented on three farming... more »

EFI honors farmworkers through awareness week

Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) is celebrating National Farmworker Awareness Week by encouraging everyone in the agricultural supply chain, including government entities and consumers, to share messages of appreciation for farmworkers. The commemorative week is scheduled... more »

North American strawberry conference sees high turnout

This year’s gathering of strawberry industry professionals attending the North American Strawberry Symposium (NASS) and North American Strawberry Growers Association (NASGA) annual meeting was successful and mostly finished ahead of the “atmospheric river” of torrential... more »

USDA session tackles H-2A, labor shortages

To combat increasing labor shortages, growers are adapting labor-saving technology and modifying their cultivation practices, including lessening and delaying pruning and weeding. The gravity of the crisis was highlighted in a session at the Feb.... more »

Topcon Agriculture launches transplanting technology

Topcon Agriculture has introduced a navigation system designed to reduce labor, boost efficiency and increase production. Transplanting Control provides global navigation satellite system (GNSS) based guidance, autosteering and control, benefitting producers of permanent and perennial... more »

Prepare for inevitable H-2A audit

In the waning days of the lame-duck session of Congress, there was still hope in some corners of the fruit and vegetable industry that legislators would include immigration and ag labor in the omnibus bill.... more »