Farmers are hoping that the bipartisan Supporting Farm Operations Act, which would freeze the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, becomes law, or else many will go out of business.
“Michigan farmers who rely on seasonal guest workers are in critical need of a stable and predictable wage structure to be able to keep supplying consumers with a safe and affordable food supply that is grown on our soil,” said Matt Smego, Michigan Farm Bureau director of public policy.
Ken DeCock stated that the program is unfair.
“What other business do you know of that has to pay their employees what farmers are paying,” said DeCock, a third-generation farmer who has been hiring migrant workers through the program for four years.
Joe Kutchey of Romeo and Dave Rudich of Ray Township joined him for a roundtable discussion about the AEWR program.
They concurred.
Kutchey stated that he has no problem paying a fair wage, but they are not simply paying workers to work in the fields. However, they must cover all costs associated with the program, including travel and living expenses, which no other small business faces.
History of the program
According to the Michigan Farm Bureau, the original idea of hiring people from different states and countries arose in response to labor shortages during World War II.
By 1952, when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, the H-2A program, as it was known, included language to protect against adverse effects. The program was last updated in 1986, when Congress passed the Immigration Control and Reform Act, retaining the adverse effect language.
“The idea was to balance employers’ need for labor with protection of ‘similarly employed’ U.S. workers and ensure there was no adverse effect on the domestic labor pool,” Smego told CNN. “Since its inception, however, the Department of Labor has never done a test to determine if there has ever been an adverse effect.”
So it’s been unchecked for years. Increases in the AEWR are now harming the very people they were intended to help: they are pricing farmers out of the labor market and forcing them to shift to less labor-intensive crops, more mechanized crops, or close their operations entirely.
Paying the price
The AEWR is a wage mandated by the Department of Labor for employers who hire nonimmigrant guest workers under the federal H-2A program. These are legal workers who enter the country on a temporary visa and then return to their home or country of origin once the work contract is completed.
This breakdown of hourly wages for H-2A workers and other mandated fees provides insight into how much some farmers pay seasonal workers.
This table shows the rise in wage rates over the last 15 years:
2010: $10.62
2015: $11.56
2020: $14.40
2025: $18.15.
This rate is paid to each worker in the program, who is guaranteed 40 hours a week, whether the rain stops them from getting in the field or not. The workers are also guaranteed 72 additional hours of sick time, whether they need it or not.
Other costs to farmers in the H-2A program might also include:
• A processing fees for each worker: $1,865.
• Provide transportation by bus, train or plane from their country of origin to Michigan and all meals and hotel stays required along the way: about $3,100 each.
• Supplies such as work gloves, rain coats and boots: $500
• Housing including electricity and gas for heat and cooking: $5,000. Every year there is also an inspection and any damages or fines related to program rules must be paid by the farmers. On one occasion Kutchey’s workers left a pile of pop bottles they intended to return to the store outside. He was fined $600 for not properly storing trash.
• Basic household supplies upon arrival: $150
• Weekly transportation to the grocery store or laundromat: $18.50 hour for the driver
Many farmers also provide vegetables grown on their farm to help reduce food costs.
“Year-over-year mandated wage increases outpace the overall U.S. Employment Cost Index nearly every year of the past decade and continue to do so,” according to Smego. In just six years, the AEWR increased by more than $4.50, from $13.54 per hour in 2019 to $18.50 per hour in 2025.
That is a 34% increase, and why?
Some farmers believe they are being asked to pay the bill for illegal immigrants.
America’s shrinking food supply
As a result of these mandated costs, labor accounts for 55% of the average Michigan fruit and vegetable grower’s total costs, leaving little for seed, fertilizer, equipment, and other expenses.
The U.S. Apple Association, one of the agricultural groups that has endorsed the Supporting Farm Operations Act, reports that the cost of growing apples has increased by 65% in three years, with labor being the primary culprit.
“These rates are 72% higher than the state minimum wage, putting a strain on farmers,” Smego told the newspaper.
Rudich, who runs the family farm with his brothers, believes people should understand why prices are so high, and that despite what they pay for sweet corn, tomatoes, and cabbage, the return on fresh market produce has remained static or decreased.
Protect Our Produce is also working to raise public awareness about the situation.
“The coalition was created by several key agricultural organizations from across the state to educate consumers on the $6 billion in economic impacts and 40,000 jobs in Michigan that are at risk without a modernized H-2A guestworker program,” Smego told the audience.
Why don’t farmers simply hire locals?
“Nobody wants to do the work,” DeCock explained. “It’s hard work and long hours often spent in lousy weather.”
Kutchey stated that he has workers who have been traveling from Mexico to his farm for years. The same goes for Rudich, whose workers are from Guatemala. They’ve both gotten to know the workers and families whose annual income is based on the summer jobs they get in Michigan.
“We treat them very well,” explained Kutchey, a third-generation farmer like DeCock and Rudich.
Their grandfathers were the ones who planted fruits and vegetables when most of Macomb County was rural. Their children, who will be the next generation of farmers, show no interest in farming.
Why should they?
The H-2A program is excellent for migrant workers, but if things continue as they are, smaller farms will disappear, while larger farms will find a way to function without the workers.
According to the 2022 census, Michigan has approximately 3,223 fruit farms and 3,213 vegetable farms. From the 2012 census to the 2022 census, Michigan lost 15,530 acres of fruits and vegetables. Another 5,000 acres were lost by 2023, bringing the total loss since 2012 to 20,000 acres.
“We applaud Congressman John Moolenaar (R-Caledonia) and his colleagues for once again introducing commonsense legislation that allows for a wage pause while Congress works with the White House to find a long-term solution to the agricultural workforce challenges,” Smego told reporters. “Michigan farmers are now counting on Congress to act swiftly and provide crucial relief.”
Moolenaar introduced the bill, which was then reintroduced with Republican and Democratic support in several farming states.
“Michigan farmers hire H-2A workers to grow and harvest the food that people all over the world depend on every day.
The Supporting Farm Operations Act ensures that these farmers have a stable, legal workforce and can still make ends meet. “Our farmers have made it clear that continued increases in labor costs are unsustainable and will bankrupt them,” Moolenaar said.
