August 2023 - 38

AG LABOR REVIEW
The city folks in Congress are at it again
O
nce more, members representing mainly urban
districts are showing us how much better they
understand what happens on the farm and the way
agriculture works than the men and women who steward
their family farming legacies. And, once again, this impulse
ignores not only reality, but simple arithmetic.
Some of the " progressive " members of the House and
the Senate are committed to removing the long-standing
exemptions in the Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) for
agriculture from the minimum wage and overtime rules.
Some of them argue that these exemptions are racist, and
they must be eliminated from the law. Their " rationale "
is that farm work is just like any other work. A job on the
farm is, of course, just like a job at an Amazon warehouse
or other sectors of our economy and, because the job is
the same, the work should not be exempt. Of course, the
assumption being made by these " progressive " members is
that with the elimination of these exemptions, farmworkers
would receive more money for their work.
When the temperature has dropped to -20 degrees in
February on the High Plains and a calf decides to drop at
2 a.m., I guess making sure that calf survives the night
to see the next morning is just like any other job. When
there's rain in the forecast and cherries are at their peak
and must be harvested to make it to market, I guess that's
just like any other job. When that water is coming and the
tomatoes have been thirsting awaiting their turn to be
irrigated regardless of the time it takes or the hour of the
day or night, I guess that's just like any other job.
But let's look at their arithmetic.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. That
minimum wage was established in 2009. According to the
USDA Farm Labor Survey published in November, the
average gross wages reported for farmworkers for FY
2022 was $16.62 per hour.
The average paid for last year was already over the
federal minimum wage by $9.37 per hour. I guess that
lays out why they think it is so important to get rid of
the exemption to run federal legislation to accomplish
something the market seems to have figured out.
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38 | AUGUST 2023

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August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of August 2023

Editor's Letter
Grower Profile: Keeping it clean
Biocontrols: Salinas Biological Summit
Organic Grower
Ag Tech: Drone assignment
Grapes: A piercing problem
Great Lakes EXPO News: Connecting growers through the digital market space
Plant & Soil Health: A strawberry threat
Farm Market & Agritourism: The first step is knowing who your customers are
CMI
Ag Labor Review
Classifieds
Advertiser Index
August 2023 - 1
August 2023 - 2
August 2023 - 3
August 2023 - Editor's Letter
August 2023 - 5
August 2023 - Grower Profile: Keeping it clean
August 2023 - 7
August 2023 - 8
August 2023 - 9
August 2023 - Biocontrols: Salinas Biological Summit
August 2023 - 11
August 2023 - 12
August 2023 - Organic Grower
August 2023 - 14
August 2023 - 15
August 2023 - 16
August 2023 - 17
August 2023 - 18
August 2023 - 19
August 2023 - 20
August 2023 - 21
August 2023 - 22
August 2023 - 23
August 2023 - 24
August 2023 - Ag Tech: Drone assignment
August 2023 - 26
August 2023 - 27
August 2023 - Grapes: A piercing problem
August 2023 - 29
August 2023 - Great Lakes EXPO News: Connecting growers through the digital market space
August 2023 - 31
August 2023 - Plant & Soil Health: A strawberry threat
August 2023 - 33
August 2023 - Farm Market & Agritourism: The first step is knowing who your customers are
August 2023 - 35
August 2023 - CMI
August 2023 - 37
August 2023 - Ag Labor Review
August 2023 - 39
August 2023 - Classifieds
August 2023 - 41
August 2023 - Advertiser Index
August 2023 - 43
August 2023 - 44
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https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/2025-fruit-nut-growers-buyers-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-fgn
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/fgn-vgn-40-under-40-class-of-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyers-guide-2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyers-guide
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/buyersguide-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/december-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/november-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/october-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/september-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/august-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/july-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/june-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/may-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/april-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/march-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/february-2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/greatamericanmediaservices/FGN/january-2019
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