In The News

Some of the finest agricultural products in the world come from the hardworking farmers, ranchers, and growers here in Southwest Michigan. However, bad federal policy and a farm labor crisis is raising costs on the farm producers that grow the food you eat, making your grocery bills more expensive.

Family farms across the 4th Congressional District are facing an uphill battle due to cost increases for critical inputs (such as fertilizer, fuel, and labor), burdensome regulations, and unfair competition with cheap foreign products. These higher expenses are either passed on to consumers, which results in higher prices at the grocery store, or they are forcing farmers, whose families may have been in business for generations, to shutter their operations. I’m fighting for farmers on all fronts, whether it be by supporting the Lower Energy Costs Act to unleash American energy and drive down fuel costs or by voting for measures to repeal heavy-handed regulations such as the new “WOTUS” rule.

In fact, last week, I led a letter with 74 Republicans and Democrats urging upcoming government funding legislation to include a temporary H-2A guestworker wage freeze. The “Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR),” or the required wage that farm employers must pay H-2A workers, more than doubled since 2005, making agricultural labor and its products more unaffordable. The nation’s average AEWR reached $17.55/hr in 2024 (more than a 5% increase year over year).

In Michigan, the AEWR went from $17.32 in 2023 to $18.50/hr in 2024, while our Canadian neighbors pay their agricultural workers closer to $11/hr. More labor-intensive agriculture, such as specialty crop operations, will be among the most impacted by this increase. A temporary wage freeze is a reasonable way to alleviate this skyrocketing financial burden and give our farmers a chance to compete, stay in business, and grow the food millions of Americans enjoy and rely on.

If you need assistance navigating a federal agency, please contact my office in Holland at (616) 251-6741 or in Portage at (269) 569-8595, and sign up for my newsletter, the Huizenga Huddle, at Huizenga.House.Gov.