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.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s 2026 agenda centers on labor stability, biosecurity, and economic resilience for family farms. Expanded DMC coverage improves risk protection for dairy operations facing tighter margins.
January 14, 2026 11:19 AM
·
A high-stakes legal case in a South Dakota federal court concerning misleading country-of-origin labeling (MCOOL), such as “Product of the USA,” on food products, will significantly impact U.S. agricultural policy for years to come.
January 14, 2026 09:00 AM
·
Agronomy experts explain why standing crop residue protects soil and reduces costs for crop growers, while shredding often yields little benefit at higher costs.
January 14, 2026 08:00 AM
·
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller today unveiled a bold plan to protect the nation’s prime farm and ranchland from the rapid spread of data centers.
January 13, 2026 03:36 PM
Secretary Rollins also met with specialty crop producers at a local strawberry farm to discuss workforce needs and the Trump Administration’s recent wins related to significantly cutting the cost of H-2A labor for California farmers.
January 13, 2026 03:25 PM
·
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said permanent access to the higher ethanol blend would provide farmers with much-needed certainty while supporting domestic crop demand.
January 13, 2026 01:31 PM
·
