crisis Archives

Wage Crisis Reignited: NCAE Briefing Prepares Employers for AEWR Ruling Fallout and Legislative Solutions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Council of Agricultural Employers (NCAE) will host a special installment of its webinar series on Tuesday, September 1, which will address a recent ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in UFW v. DOL, which struck down key provisions of the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) Interim Final Rule (IFR). The court found the IFR unlawful on multiple grounds and remanded the issue back to DOL. The session will brief farmers, ranchers, growers, agents and industry stakeholders on the legal fallout, upcoming regulatory action, and urgent legislative next steps.

On Tuesday, September 1, 2026, from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Eastern, NCAE will host “Crisis Reignited: Preparing for the AEWR Ruling Fallout & What Comes Next.” The webinar will be led by Chris Schulte, a partner of Fisher Phillips, and John Hollay, NCAE’s President and CEO. Chris and John will walk through the legal fallout of the recent court decision, the impacts farmers and growers will face immediately and long-term, and the critical importance of legislative action through passing the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA) of 2026.

“A single legal challenge has put our nation’s farmers, ranchers, growers, and agricultural producers in immediate jeopardy,” said Hollay, “The Department’s IFR provided long-overdue stability against runaway wage mandates. Striking down the IFR has reopened that wound and throws American agriculture and our rural communities back into financial and existential instability. During next week’s webinar, we will examine the fallout, prepare for the next steps from the Department, and reinforce the urgent need for Congress to step in and solve this crisis once and for all by passing Chairman Thompson’s Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act. “

The webinar will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. This briefing is open to NCAE members and the agricultural community. At the conclusion of the webinar, NCAE will host its regularly scheduled H-2A Committee call. This portion of the session will be off the record, but non-members are welcomed to join to get a glimpse into NCAE membership.

SHRM education credits and recordings of the webinar presentation will be available upon the conclusion of the webinar. Additional information, including registration details, is available on the NCAE website at ncaeonline.org.

About NCAE

Founded in 1964, NCAE is the only national association focusing exclusively on agricultural labor issues from the agricultural employer’s viewpoint.

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Court Ruling Reignites Existential Threat to U.S. Farmers, Warns NCAE

Earlier today, the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California ruled against the Department of Labor (DOL) in the UFW v. DOL litigation on the Adverse Effect Wage Rate Methodology (AEWR) for the Temporary Employment of H–2A Nonimmigrants in Non-Range Occupations in the United States Interim Final Rule (IFR). The IFR prevented a crisis from taking place in rural America. The judge’s ruling returns rural America to a crisis situation.

“We are deeply disappointed by the Court’s ruling,” said John Hollay, President and CEO of the National Council of Agricultural Employers. “For years, America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers have been pushed toward a breaking point by artificially inflated wage mandates. The Department averted a crisis in rural America by issuing the IFR. The ruling reignites this crisis.”

“NCAE remains eager,” continued Hollay, “to work alongside the Department to establish a clear, sustainable wage structure moving forward. The judge’s ruling underscores the need for Congressional action in passing the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act (SAWA) of 2026. The fate of farming in America should not be determined at the whim of a single judge in California.”

The federal court in Fresno, California found the IFR unlawful on multiple grounds and remanded the issue for the DOL to address. The Department will send out a notice within the next 7 days to employers to put them on notice that the court might order them to pay the difference between the current AEWRs and the AEWRs under the new rule that DOL will issue, from the date of the notice through the effective date of the new rule.

This highlights the need for a long-term solution to this issue that Congress can provide, and NCAE reiterates its support for the Securing Agriculture’s Workforce Act and the crucial and lasting changes that it would make to end this cycle of crisis.

About NCAE

Founded in 1964, NCAE is the only national association focusing exclusively on agricultural labor issues from the agricultural employer’s viewpoint.

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