Congressman John Moolenaar
LANSING — Congressman John Moolenaar (R-Midland) recently introduced the “Freeze AEWR and Restore Monetary Sense (FARMS) Act “to provide certainty to Michigan farmers struggling to make ends meet,” states press release from his office.
“The bill comes as the Department of Labor is currently unable to properly calculate the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) for 2026, which dictates the wages of H-2A temporary agriculture laborers utilized by Michigan farmers,” states the press release. “The FARMS Act gives the Department of Labor the authority to freeze the AEWR for up to two years if there is no valid method to calculate the wage rate. Moolenaar’s legislation gives the department ample time to come to a long-term solution that incorporates input from farmers when establishing a new framework to calculate the AEWR.”
“Michigan farmers who rely on the H-2A program deserve to have a stable and predictable wage rate for their employees. Unfortunately, the Department of Labor’s previous methodology took farmers out of the equation, and increased the AEWR by over 60 percent in the last decade. The FARMS Act is a commonsense proposal to give the labor department the authority to freeze the AEWR, while it engages with farmers to find a long-term solution that allows Michigan farmers to thrive and continue to provide the food we rely on every day,” said Moolenaar.
The U.S. Department of Labor establishes the AEWR for each state, and Michigan’s was set at $18.15 per hour effective Dec. 16, 2024.
“In August, the Department of Labor’s methodology to calculate the AEWR was struck down in federal court, and it was ordered to revert to its previous calculation,” states the press relase. “The Department of Agriculture however simultaneously discontinued the Farm Labor Survey formerly used in the methodology. Moolenaar’s legislation would allow the labor department to relieve uncertainty for farmers who utilize H-2A temporary workers in their operations.”
“Moolenaar’s legislation is cosponsored by Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture GT Thompson (R-PA), as well as Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Tony Gonzales (R-TX), Michael Guest (R-MS), Robert Aderholt (R-AL), and Ralph Norman (R-SC). The text of the FARMS Act can be found here.”
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