This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual wage survey which serves as the basis for the Adverse Effect Wage Rates the Department of Labor will set for 2025.

Across the country, the survey found that the average wage for agricultural workers in both field and livestock combined rose 3.25 percent from 2023 to 2024. As a result, the AEWR will increase next year in all regions of the U.S. except Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, where it will fall from $18.50 to $18.15.

In Washington and Oregon, the AEWR will go up from $19.25 to $19.82, a 3 percent increase, while California growers face a 1 percent increase, landing at $19.97. Idaho growers will see a 1.75 percent increase to $16.83. In New York and the rest of the Northeast, the AEWR will rise nearly 6 percent to $18.83. In Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, the AEWR will be $17.96, a 4.4 percent increase.

Increases of nearly 10 percent will hit the Southeastern U.S., and Hawaii will surpass California with the highest AEWR in the country at $20.08.

The wages won’t take effect until they are formally published in the Federal Register, which is expected in December, according to Kate Tynan with the Northwest Horticultural Council.

The full report is available on the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Survey website at: https://usda.library.cornell.edu/concern/publications/x920fw89s?locale=en.

—by Kate Prengaman