Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Mark Messmer (R-IN) joined Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and over 100 of their colleagues in a letter to House Appropriations leaders requesting an H-2A visa guestworker wage freeze in upcoming appropriations legislation.

This simple policy fix will lower input costs for the agricultural community and keep Hoosier family farms in business.

“While more permanent solutions are needed to address the AEWR’s past impact and its future trajectory, we request that the Fiscal Year 2026 appropriations bill prohibit funds from being used to implement a wage larger than the January 2023 wage rate or otherwise freeze the H-2A wage rates at January 2023 levels,” wrote the legislators.

BACKGROUND:

The “Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR),” is the wage farmers are required to pay H-2A workers. Since 2005, the AEWR has more than doubled, making farm labor not only challenging to find, but nearly impossible to afford. In Indiana, farmers pay an hourly minimum wage of $19.57. That's $3.70 more than neighboring farmers in Kentucky pay. But the H-2A program doesn't just set a high wage; it requires farmers to provide housing and transportation for all H-2A employees.

With the price of fuel, machinery, fertilizer, and other agriculture inputs rising, Hoosier farmers do not have the margin for misguided and unreasonable labor costs. While farmers await expansive reform to the H-2A program, a temporary wage freeze will keep Hoosier producers competitive and allow them to continue growing the safest and most nutritious food in the world. 

A signed copy of the letter is available here.

To learn more about what Rep. Messmer is doing for Hoosier farmers in Indiana’s 8th Congressional District, click here.

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