NASHVILLE, TENN. (RFD-TV) — The labor group United Farm Workers is taking the Trump Administration to court over recent changes to the H-2A program. The lawsuit, filed Friday in the Eastern District of California, argues that the cuts to H-2A minimum wage rates will also reduce pay for domestic workers.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that the move will save farmers and ranchers $2.5 billion each year. The group warns that new methods for calculating the adverse-effect wage rate would result in lower pay for foreign workers.
“By DOL’s own admission, DOL engineered the IFR to reduce wages paid to temporary foreign farmworkers and, in turn, U.S. workers—the precise workers whose wages and working conditions federal law protects. In short, the IFR has created the ‘adverse effect’ that DOL is tasked with preventing,” says the lawsuit filed on behalf of 18 individual farm workers as well as the United Farm Workers of America and the UFW Foundation.
Other agricultural groups, like the National Council of Agriculture Employers, disagree and say the new rates bring ag wages back to reality. The International Fresh Produce Association called the interim final rule “an historic step forward in creating a fairer, more predictable, and administratively workable process for setting H-2A wage rates.”
Tryston Beyrer, Crop Nutrition Lead at The Mosaic Company, examines planning trends as producers weigh corn and soybean plantings for 2026.
December 01, 2025 03:27 PM
·
Brooks York with AgriSompo joins us to offer an update on what agents are prioritizing as the calendar year winds down.
December 01, 2025 03:06 PM
·
The newly elected Executive Vice President of the Tennessee Cattlemen’s Association (TCA), Dale Parker, joins us on-set to share his vision for his state’s cattle industry.
December 01, 2025 02:47 PM
·
The National Milk Producers Federation will launch a new advocacy campaign to secure a final vote, urging House lawmakers to approve the bill as soon as they return from the Thanksgiving recess.
November 25, 2025 01:09 PM
·
Tyson’s Nebraska plant closure and falling Cattle on Feed numbers send cattle markets tumbling. Analysts warn of tighter supplies, weak margins, and rising global competition.
November 25, 2025 12:05 PM
·
Farmers with unpaid Hansen-Mueller grain should verify delivery records immediately and file indemnity claims quickly, as coverage rules differ sharply by state.
November 24, 2025 02:32 PM
·
Farm legal expert Roger McEowen reviews the history of the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and outlines how shifting definitions across multiple administrations have created regulatory confusion for landowners.
November 24, 2025 12:38 PM
·
Leslee Oden, president of the National Turkey Federation, and Jay Jandrain, CEO of Butterball, joined us in the studio on Monday to discuss the history, significance, and expectations surrounding this year’s presidential turkey pardon.
November 24, 2025 12:04 PM
·
These “USDA Foods” are provided to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) nutrition assistance programs, including food banks that operate The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and are a vital component of the nation’s food safety net.
November 24, 2025 10:09 AM
·
