By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

Farmers in Texas and across the nation will have to pay more per hour for H-2A workers this year.

The Department of Labor (DOL) recently released its first iteration of Adverse Effect Wage Rates (AEWR), the minimum mandatory wage rate that H-2A workers must be paid by their employers, using the DOL’s new Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Survey.

“It looks like there’s going to be an average increase across the country of a little over 3%, but because of the new methodology, we have these wage rates by state as opposed to by region,” John Walt Boatright, director of Government Affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), said.

Under the DOL’s interim final rule, the department assigns each state an AEWR for two occupational skill levels.

Skill Level 1 corresponds to those employees conducting entry-level farm labor duties.

Skill Level 2 corresponds to more experienced work or supervisory-adjacent roles.

The wage rate for Skill Level 1 employees in Texas for 2026-27 is now $10.40 per hour, up 4.3% from 2025-26.

The national rate for the same skill level is up 3.5% to $12.31.

The wage rate for Skill Level 2 employees in Texas is now $14.37, up 3.9%.

The national wage rate for level 2 employees is up 2.1% to $16.07 an hour.

The new wage rate calculations now also include an Adverse Compensation Adjustment (ACA) that factors in some of the non-wage costs employers incur for the program.

“Think of housing, transportation, administrative costs and some meal expenses. That adverse compensation adjustment is built into this new methodology, which is welcome by farmers because it helps create a more fair methodology to make sure that they’re considering the quite extensive costs that employers have to incur for this program,” Boatright said. “Previously, that was not a part of the new methodology pre-October 2025. That’s a crucial component, and that’s something that I think farmers and ranchers have largely applauded through this new methodology.”

The new wage rates are now effective and will change annually.

This year, the AEWR for skill level 1 workers increased for 39 of the 54 jurisdictions (all 50 states plus D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

Only 15 areas saw a decrease.

Kansas recorded the largest AEWR increase in the country, up 21.3% to $13.86 an hour for Skill Level 1 workers.

“We’ve seen some pretty significant volatility—as much as 20% increases in some states. That is not altogether unexpected,” Boatright said. “We knew there was going to be some volatility in place, which is why we’ve long advocated not only for changes in this methodology, much of which we support, but we also support some safeguards in place to limit that volatility to improve certainty for both farmers and employees moving forward.”

Labor expenses are often the biggest cost for farmers and ranchers, and Boatright said the H-2A rate increases have been challenging because those involved in agriculture don’t know what the increase will be until it’s published in the Federal Register.

“Then, they become effective with little heads up or little notice. That has always been a challenge with regard to this system,” Boatright said. “The good news is that under the new methodology, the wage rates overall have been calibrated in such a way that it really improves the sustainability of our farmers and ranchers overall and improves the flexibility by which they can employ a fair and meaningful wage rate for their employers.”

Skill Level 2 rates increased in 39 states and decreased in 15, according to AFBF.

Rhode Island saw the largest increase at 9.7% to $16.78 an hour.

The year-to-year volatility of the AEWR brings a level of uncertainty for farmers attempting to plan their costs for the next few years.

Boatright said a provision in new ag labor legislation could provide much-needed stability for H-2A program users.

“The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act introduced by Chairman ‘GT’ Thompson would in fact codify much of the methodology that was introduced in October of 2025 while instituting many important safeguards to the program,” Boatright said. “One example of that is that the legislation would basically constrain how much the AEWR fluctuates from year-to-year.”

The legislation would restrict the AEWR from increasing more than 3.25% or decreasing more than 1.5% year-to-year.

“That’s a protection for farmers and employers as well as farm workers,” Boatright said. ‘If that legislation was law today, we would see and know that that stabilization of the wage rates would be achieved. That’s why we’re such big fans of the bill.”

The legislation also calls for the refinement and improvement of the data used for the AEWR by urging the DOL to survey farmers and ranchers in the field as opposed to adjacent industries.

“Making sure that they’re taking in a good amount of farmer and rancher data is going to be incredibly important,” Boatright said.

AFBF encourages farmers and ranchers to reach out to their lawmakers about the importance of ag labor and Thompson’s legislation.

“The Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act is the best piece of legislation for the times we’re in to address problems that haven’t been addressed in 40 years,” Boatright said. “Now’s really the time to really take up this legislation that controls cost, that expands access, and that streamlines and modernizes the H-2A program. Our hope is that Congress will see the wisdom in taking up this legislation and moving it before the end of the year because that will in turn aid and help a struggling farm economy in these times.”