Farm worker advocates are sounding the alarm on overtime pay. One legal expert warns that this push could add more strain to an industry already facing major challenges.
“My thing with the overtime is it hurts the employee,” explained Shawn Packer, principal at JPH Law. “It hurts the employer, too, but it hurts the employee because you’re limiting the hours that they’re working, so that you’re not paying the overtime, so they’re actually making less money.”
Packer added that while there is a lot of advocacy surrounding the prevailing wage lawsuit, it ultimately takes money out of the pockets of farm workers.
When it comes to regulations, such as the heat rule, Packer said that it only adds to the problem.
“One of the things, especially when we started looking at the heat rule and everything else, that’s amazing to me is you’ve got these advocacy organizations that are pushing so hard to keep piece rate, but then we have these regulations that tell us to stop working. And the workers, that’s all they want to do is they want to make that piece rate.”
Bottom line: Packer says that despite all the efforts advocates make, the workers are still making less money.
As the White House works to close the trade gap, patience is wearing thin for some lawmakers. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) says farmers are getting backed into a corner.
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The Interior Department is proposing to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s Public Lands Rule. This move would make huge strides to empower local decision-making and restore balance between conservation and protecting rural livelihoods tied to these public lands.
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Labor is an ongoing crisis in the ag sector. One industry group outlines three vital reforms to the H-2A visa program that farmers need to secure an affordable, stable workforce.
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Lewie Pugh, with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, joined us on Monday’s Market Day Report with his insights on the incident and a deeper dive into the issues at hand.
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Co-Bank Lead Dairy Economist, Corey Geiger, joined us on Friday’s
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The amendments affect BLM lands in several Western states. Comments on the Sage grouse proposals can be made to the BLM National NEPA Register until Oct. 3.
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Mike Formica with the National Pork Producers Council joined us on Market Day Report with his reaction to the EPA’s rollback of a Biden-era wastewater discharge mitigation plan.
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Farmers are struggling with low commodity prices and skyrocketing input costs, resulting in debt that is outpacing income across the sector, according to the USDA’s new farm income forecast.
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