Alabama farm leaders are celebrating a new federal rule decreasing the wages agriculture-related businesses must pay people hired through a guest worker program.
Advocating for changes to the H-2A program to make it more affordable for Alabama growers has been a priority this year for the Alabama Farmers Federation. Under the previous rule, the federally mandated minimum hourly rate since 2021 increased 34% to $16.08 this year.
“Frankly, we’re getting priced out of it,” Phillip Hunter, a Talladega County tree nursery owner and the Shelby County Farmers Federation president, told Alabama Daily News recently…